Truth or Dare
by SmilingArtist
Summary: -NonMassacre- She shouldn't have agreed to this. Now he just wouldn’t leave her alone. Stupid dare, stupid Ino, stupid irresistibly stubborn Uchiha. Maybe it would have been better if she had never gotten out of bed this morning. -ItaSaku-
1. Dangerous Dare

**Author's Note: **  
I recently got into reading a lot of ItaSaku non-massacre fics and instantly became addicted. I couldn't resist writing my own. Hope you like it! Please read and review.

**Disclaimer: **  
I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

**-X-**

**TRUTH OR DARE**

**-X-**

**Summary:** She shouldn't have agreed to this. Now he just wouldn't leave her alone. Stupid dare, stupid Ino, stupid irresistibly stubborn Uchiha. Maybe it would have been better if she had never gotten out of bed this morning.

**Pairings:** ItaSaku / ShisuIno

**Genre:** Romance / Humour

**Speech:**

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

**-X-**

**Chapter One**_  
-Dangerous Dare-_

**-X-**

A tired and relieved sigh was emitted from the rosette haired kunoichi as the Konoha gates came into view. The sun was slowly beginning to make its way down and the skies were painted a soft shade of yellow, pink and orange. Sakura shivered as a gust of wind came in contact with her body. Suddenly a warm piece of clothing was draped onto her shoulders. Sakura clutched onto the jacket tightly and turned around to see a familiar blonde giving her a foxy grin, clad only in a turquoise coloured shirt and his normal black and yellow shinobi pants.

Sakura smiled at him. "Thanks Naruto, but you didn't have to," she said.

Naruto shook his head; his grin growing even wider. "It's fine, Sakura-chan. You needed it more than me."

A black haired boy came to their side with a fake smile plaster on his face. His coal-black eyes shone with slight mockery towards the blonde and the rosette.

"Hm, it seems that you have a thing for Sakura-san," he stated.

Naruto turned a light shade of red in embarrassment. "Well, uh…"

Sakura looked away with a slight blush on her face as well. Even though she hates to admit it, she used to have a crush on Naruto. But just like the one she had on Sasuke, it disappeared as soon as it came. Though this didn't stop her from feeling embarrassed whenever someone makes statements about people having crushes on her, especially when people such as Sai put it so bluntly.

"I never knew that you'd go for the ugly and bitchy types. I would have thought that you preferred ones with a better figure," Sai mused, unaware of the landmines that he stepping on.

Before he knew it he was on the floor, cringing in pain from the harsh blow that he received from one of Sakura fists.

Sakura gritted her teeth together as she made her way towards the ex-ANBU Root member. Hauling him up by the collar of his shirt, she gave him a dangerous glare.

"Do you mind repeating yourself, Sai?" she growled.

Sai still managed to smile, despite the throbbing pain on his cheek. "I said that I would never have thought that Naruto would go for the ugly and bitchy types like you," he said, still smiling.

From his place a few feet away from the scene, Naruto decided for once he felt sorry for Sai as he watched as the kunoichi literally ripped his arms and legs right out of their sockets.

**-X-**

"I'm starving!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Sakura sat down on one of the stool of Ichiraku. Sadly it was just the two of this evening, seeing as how Sai had decided to make a trip to the hospital after being pulverized by the short-tempered kunoichi. You would have thought that after all this time he would have finally learnt to keep his mouth shut but it seems like that was not the case.

"Hey old man, give me a bowl of beef ramen will ya!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically.

Sakura shook her head at his rudeness. She turned towards Teuchi's daughter, Ayame and smiled politely. "I'll have a bowl of miso ramen, please," she said.

"Make that two," a voice said from behind them. Naruto and Sakura turned to see a raven haired shinobi looking at them with his arms crossed. His onyx coloured orbs shone with boredom.

"Sasuke-teme, where the hell have you been?!" the blonde haired shinobi shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger at the lad.

It has been months since they had last seen the Uchiha. The last time they saw him was when the Jounin Exams were taking place. Needless to say, Sasuke had been promoted along with Hyuuga Neji, Temari and Kankuro. After that day it seemed like he had disappeared without a trace. The funny thing was that their sensei Hatake Kakashi had also been missing during this period of time. The two had tried to pry the whereabouts of the two missing shinobi from Tsunade but the damn woman had stubbornly kept her mouth shut. She had assured them that Sasuke was fine but that didn't convince the two at all. After their first Chuunin Exam had concluded it felt as if Sasuke had been slowly drifting away from them. Sakura had a feeling that it had to do with the mysterious shinobi, Orochimaru that appeared before them in the second exam.

"I was away training with Kakashi," Sasuke's voice stated, as he took a seat next to Sakura. "Didn't Tsunade-sama tell you that?"

"Nah, that old hag kept her trap shut!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura hit him over the head. "Don't be rude!" she scolded.

Sasuke shook his head. "I can see that you two haven't changed a bit," he muttered; the corner of his mouth twitching upwards.

After all, it was good to be home.

"Is that you, Sasuke-kun?!" a familiar voice cut through the semi-silent atmosphere.

The Uchiha inwardly groaned. _Oh no, not her!_ He cried silently.

A few seconds later Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata made their way into Ichiraku. Ino latched herself onto Sasuke as soon as she spotted him.

"Hey there, Sasuke-kun," she purred, batting her eyelashes seductively. "Do you still remember me?"

"How could I forget?" the raven haired boy said, annoyed.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, S-Sasuke-kun," Hinata said quietly.

Naruto gave her a foxy grin and pulled her towards the stool beside him. "Hey Hinata, what brings you here?" he asked as the Hyuuga heiress sat down.

"We're here to look for Forehead-girl," Ino answered once she got off of Sasuke.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, deciding to ignore the nickname.

Without warning, the platinum-blonde haired kunoichi pulled Sakura to her feet and proceeded to drag her away.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Sakura shrieked as her best friend proceeded to pull her away from her bewildered team.

Hinata immediately stood up. "Uh, I h-have to go," she stuttered and proceeded after the two kunoichi.

Naruto blinked in confusion. "What just happened?" he asked no one in particular.

"…Hn."

**-X-**

"Alright Ino-pig, you have three seconds to explain to me why you dragged me away before I beat you to a pulp," the rosette haired kunoichi said, crossing her arms across her chest. They were currently in front of Ino's apartment on the other side of the street.

Ino gasped. "What?!" she asked with disbelief. "Don't tell me you forgot."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Forgot what?"

"Remember, we arranged to have a sleepover at my place tonight. How could you forget? We planned this together. I thought you were my friend!" Ino faked a snivel, which received rolled eyes from Sakura's direction and a giggle from Hinata.

"You're such a drama queen," Sakura remarked.

Ino stuck her tongue out at her best friend/rival. "Whatever, now are you guys coming in or not?" she asked, opening the door for them.

The two kunoichis looked at each other and smiled then proceeded into Ino's small apartment. Small it may be but it sure is comfortable. All the objects and furniture were arranged nicely; not a single thing was misplaced. Who would have thought that Ino was such a neat-freak?

Sakura and Hinata walked into the blonde's purple bedroom and Sakura was surprised to see Tenten and Temari already there.

"Hey Tenten-san, Temari-san," she nodded at both of them.

Tenten gave off a grin while Temari just nodded at her. A few minutes later Ino came back into the room carrying a handful of snacks and DVDs in her arms. She dumped them all on the floor and sighed and sat herself down.

"Before we start watching any movies why don't we play a game," she suggested.

"What sort of game?" Temari inquired.

A glint shone in Ino's eyes as she smirked. "Truth or Dare," she said mischievously.

Tenten's eyes lit in excitement. Truth or Dare was one of her most favourite games. "I'm in," she said.

Temari and Hinata nodded. "Me too," they said.

Sakura sighed and shrugged. "Why not?" she asked.

I mean, how bad could it be?

"Alright then, let's start!" Ino exclaimed. "Hinata, you can be the first to ask the question or dare."

Hinata nodded shyly. "Okay…" She looked around the room and her pearl-white eyes finally stopped on a certain brunette. "Tenten-san, truth or dare?"

Tenten smiled. "Truth," she said. Might as well be safe than sorry.

The midnight-blue haired kunoichi thought for a moment. "W-who do you l-like?" she asked quietly.

Tenten's face turned a brilliant shade of red and she looked away. "Lee," she muttered.

Everyone's eyes widened. "I thought you had a thing for Hyuuga, not that weirdo," Temari said flabbergasted.

Tenten turned and gave Temari a nasty glare. "He's not a weirdo!" she defended.

The Suna kunoichi returned the glare. The two kunoichis never really did get along with each other really well after their fight in their first Chuunin Exam.

"I agree with Temari-san, though," Ino spoke up. "I always thought you liked Neji-san."

Tenten shrugged. "That's what everyone thought but the truth is I only consider him as a teammate and friend; nothing more, nothing less," she explained.

"Oh…"

Tenten sighed. "Well enough about me, let's move on." Her chocolate-brown eyes scanned across the room and landed on the sandy-blonde haired kunoichi.

"Temari, truth or dare?" she asked, giving her a glare. She was still annoyed with the fan-wielding kunoichi for the insult she gave Lee.

Temari frowned. "Dare," she stated. Since Tenten had chose truth why not go with dare and show her how brave she was compared to her.

Tenten inwardly smirked. "I dare you to go up to Shikamaru and yell at the top of your lungs 'I love you' to him," she told.

All the traces of determination disappeared from Temari's face and she turned as white as a ghost. "W-what did you just say?!" Temari spluttered. "Why would the hell would I do that? I don't even like that lazy ass!"

"What a chicken!" the brunette remarked as she gave off a smirk.

Temari scowled and stormed out the door.

"Do you think she's going to do it?" Sakura asked excitedly.

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, I know she'll do it. That woman never backs out from any challenge," she stated.

A few minutes later a loud voice yelling throughout Konohagakure could be heard.

"I LOVE YOU!"

The three kunoichis burst out laughing while Hinata managed with a few giggles. A few seconds later, Temari appeared back in the room, red in the face from anger and embarrassment.

She gave Tenten a nasty glare before sitting back down.

"Y-you're turn, Temari-san," Ino said through her giggles.

The older blonde frowned and looked at Ino. "Ino, truth or dare?" she asked.

"Truth!" the Yamanaka shouted enthusiastically.

"Do you still have a crush on Uchiha Sasuke?" Temari wondered.

Ino shook her head. "Nah, that old school's crush disappeared _ages _ago!" she exaggerated.

Sakura frowned. "Then why did you flirt with him back at Ichiraku?" she asked.

Ino giggled. "Well you have to admit he's hot!" she exclaimed.

Temari snorted. "Almost all the Uchihas are hot," she stated. "Especially Sasuke's brother."

"But he's like a freaking human ice-cube!" Sakura exclaimed, remembering how she had to go on a mission with him once. Throughout the mission, she had been given the silent treatment. Even Sasuke or Neji would have been better company than him.

"Sometimes I wonder if that guy even has hormones," Tenten mused.

Ino gasped. "I know! You would have at least thought by now that he would have had a girlfriend. I mean, he's like what? Twenty?"

"Twenty-one," Sakura corrected.

Ino gave her a pointed look but didn't say anything.

"I wonder what his sexual orientation is," Temari wondered, rubbing her chin.

Ino gasped loudly. "What's if he's homosexual? No wonder he's never shown any interest in girls!"

Hinata blushed, not really comfortable with where the conversation was heading. Weren't they supposed to be playing Truth or Dare?

"That'll be such a shame then," Tenten said, shaking her head. "What a waste. Konoha's number one hottest guy: known to be gay." She sighed.

Ino frowned and began to think. Her eyes drifted around her bedroom, passing her semi-opened closet which contained all her bar-hopping dresses and returning back to the girls. Finally her eyes stopped on Sakura. She smirked. _Perfect._

"Well, let's get back to the game shall we?" she announced.

The other four girls nodded.

"I'll go first this time but to make things more interesting you can only choose dare this time," she said mischievously, her eyes glancing at Sakura from time to time.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. _I don't like where this is going…_ she thought.

"I choose Sakura."

Sakura sighed. "Dare," she said in a strained voice.

Ino smirked. _Time to put my plan into action!_

"Alright, here's your dare, Sakura," she started.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, fearing for the worse. She didn't like the look in Ino's eyes. It screamed of trouble.

"In order to find out about Uchiha Itachi's sexual orientation, I dare you to seduce him."

…

The next thing that anyone could have heard throughout the streets of Konoha was a blood-curdling scream followed by the sound of flesh hitting ground.

Oh, boy.

**-X-**

**Author's Note: **  
How was it? Please tell me in a review. Flames are not accepted but constructive criticism is. I would like to have at least five reviews before the next chapter please and don't worry I haven't abandoned any of my other fics. I'm just suffering from a bad case of writer's block. I've also decided to change '…' to the standard "…" seeing as how I got a lot of reviews telling me to use "…" instead. See you in the next chapter. By the way, I changed my penname (again).

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	2. Suicidal Seduction

**Author's Note:**  
I'm finally done with chapter two. It took me three days to finish this! I hope you find this chapter satisfying. Please leave a review after you finish reading.

**-X-**

**Chapter Two**_  
-Suicidal Seduction-_

**-X-**

"Hurry up and get dressed, Forehead!"

It took two hours for Sakura to finally regain consciousness after that shock. She got up, hoping that it was all just a bad dream but sadly her best friend just had to bring the topic up once again.

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" she grumbled as Ino shoved a piece of clothing into her arms.

Ino sighed and put a hand one her hip. Her sky-blue eyes stared into her friend's sea-green ones that were filled with annoyance.

"I'm telling ya, you'll be fine," she assured.

Sakura snorted. "Easy for you to say. I've never seduced anyone in my life and you're telling me to seduce Uchiha Itachi, aka the human ice sculpture?!"

"Don't worry Sakura, seduction is actually really easy and fun," Ino giggled at the last word. "I remember how I had to go on my first seduction mission. That guy just couldn't get his hands off my wonderful body!" she exclaimed.

Sakura gave her a dead-panned expression. "And yet you're still a virgin?" she asked in disbelief.

The blonde clicked her tongue and frowned. "That is beside the point and I doubt that you have to go as far as have sex with him."

Sakura hadn't really thought about that. It was bad enough that she had to seduce him but sex?! No way in hell! As she tried to imagine to feel of Itachi's hands on her naked skin, an involuntarily shiver ran up her spine. Unconsciously, a small sound escaped her throat. She wasn't sure if the shiver was good or bad. Sakura would bet all her money on the latter. After all, why would she be attracted to Uchiha Itachi, the strongest and coldest ANBU captain in all of Konoha? Although she had to admit he did look sexy.

"_He'll probably even sexier without his clothes on."_ And just like that, Inner Sakura decided to make her appearance.

Sakura blushed and shook her head. What the hell was she thinking?

"Are we thinking naughty thoughts here, Sakura?" Ino teased.

Sakura turned ripe red and gave her a glare. "What the hell are you on about Ino-pig?" she demanded.

The Yamanaka crossed her arms and gave her a smirk. "Oh, so you're not denying the fact that you're thinking naughty thoughts which happen to involve a certain Uchiha, hm? I guess that explains the moan that you gave off earlier."

Sakura froze. What moan? Did she really moan when she was imagining Itachi's hands on her body? Was that the sound that she let out earlier when she thought of Itachi's hand running up and down her cur-!

_Why the hell am I still thinking about it?!_ Sakura cried in her mind.

"Enough daydreaming, Sakura," Ino's voice called.

Sakura glanced up only to meet another piece of clothing being thrown at her face.

"Hurry up and get dressed already!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

Ino let out an exasperated groan. "Uh, hello! For your dare, of course. This is the perfect time to seduce him."

"Why now?"

"His team had just returned from a mission. They're at the bar right now. You know, the one close to Ichiraku," the blonde explained.

Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How do you know all this?"

"Genma told me," came the response.

Te rosette raised an eyebrow at this but didn't comment. Deciding to dismiss the question of why Ino would be hanging out with Genma, she held up the piece of clothing Ino tossed at her. Her eyes widened in horror. Why did Ino have to choose such a skimpy piece of clothing?

"Do I have to wear this?" she asked in a strained voice.

"Of course."

"B-but it's way too revealing!" she complained.

"You can always go naked," Ino suggested, cheekily. "That way it'll get the job done even faster."

Sakura's face blanched.

"Now that you're done complaining, get dressed. After this, Temari-san, Tenten and Hinata are going to help with your makeup."

Sakura groaned. _Oh, god…_

**-X-**

Itachi wanted to sigh as he watched his cousin, Shisui flirt with many women that looked to be a few years older than him. His team, consisting of Uchiha Shisui, Aburame Shino, Shiranui Genma and himself had just finished up their mission in Kirigakure. Immediately upon returning, Genma had suggested that they head towards the bar for some relaxation. Normally Itachi would have refused but seeing as how the Uchiha clan was holding a meeting right at this very moment he didn't feel like returning. Neither does Shisui. His cousin had claimed that the meetings were always boring and troublesome and for once in his life, Itachi agreed with him.

So here he was, sitting on the stools of the bar, quietly sipping on his glass of water. Shisui was currently flirting with every single woman in the room, Shino had left a few minutes ago, claiming that he had important business to take care of and Genma disappeared to God knows where.

"Hey Itachi, come join us!" the voice of his overly excited cousin called.

The girls that were sitting beside him giggled.

Itachi shook his head, refusing Shisui's offer. Sometimes he wonders how Shisui was born an Uchiha. The members of the clan were all known to be calm and quiet, not loud and brash like his cousin. His attitude was enough to rival the Uzumaki boy in Sasuke's team.

With a sigh, he resumed sipping his drink. A few seconds later the doors of the bar burst open and his nose was immediately hit with a strong rose-scented perfume. His eyebrows rose as the figures made their entrance into the room.

_What are _they_ doing here?_

**-X-**

Sakura tugged on her mini skirt uncomfortably. She cursed Ino for choosing such an inappropriate choice of dress. But she had to admit it did look nice, despite that fact that it revealed way too much skin. The outfit was blood-red in colour. It consists of a one shoulder strap shirt that stopped two inches below the bottom of her breast. The skirt was really tight and stopped at her mid-thighs. Her footwear consists of a pair of black high-heels.

Her gaze shifted towards the building in front of her. Immediately a wave of nausea washed through her body. Her feet remained planted firmly to the ground, unable to take a step forward.

Suddenly she was roughly shoved forward by her blonde friend.

"Are you just going to stand there all day and stare at the door?" Ino asked annoyed, placing a hand on her hip.

She was wearing a strapless baby-blue dress that hugged her figure tightly. The dress stopped above her mid-thigh, giving the audience a great view of her creamy long legs. On her feet were a pair of high-heels; sapphire blue in colour and around her neck was a black chocker.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked.

Ino made a tsking noise. "Someone's got to make sure you do your job right and besides, who said that you get to have all the fun?"

Without waiting for a reply, Ino walked into the bar swinging her hips seductively in the process. Sakura sighed and followed her in but with less enthusiasm. I mean, who would be excited when they found out that they had to seduce Uchiha Itachi? Sure his fans wouldn't mind but Sakura was not a fan-girl, especially of someone who practically doesn't even have hormones.

"_But you were a Sasuke fan-girl__ once,"_ Inner Sakura pointed out.

The rosette groaned in her mind. Why did her Inner always have to make sense? Sure Sasuke fits in the same category of his brother but she was sure that even Sasuke would react better than his brother when it comes to girl. Sakura was willing to bet that Itachi will kill her before she even bats an eyelash.

"I swear Ino that you're trying to kill me," she moaned as they made their way further into the bar.

Ino sighed and turned to face her. "Do you want to back out now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, knowing that her rival will never admit defeat to anyone.

"_Yes!"_

"No…"

The blonde nodded her head in satisfaction. "That's good. What kind of kunoichi are you if you can't even perform such a _simple_ task such as this?"

Sakura gave her a dead-panned expression. _Define simple…_

"Now enough talking," Ino said, cutting off her thoughts. "Look over there!"

Sakura followed the direction that Ino's perfectly manicured nails pointed towards. She paled when she spotted her target there; quietly taking sips of his drink.

"Hurry up and go!" Ino hissed, pushing her forwards.

Sakura yelled and stumbled forward. When she finally regained her balance she found herself standing right in front of Uchiha Itachi, who gave her a puzzled looked.

Sakura immediately blushed and turned her head towards Ino's direction. The blonde kunoichi glared at her and mouthed the words 'do your dare'.

"I know, I know," Sakura muttered, turning around to face the ANBU captain once again.

_Smile, Sakura, smile! _She told herself as her lips twitched upwards awkwardly into a fake grin.

"H-hi Itachi-san," she greeted; smile still attached.

Itachi looked at her for a second before resuming his drink.

"Hm."

Her eye twitched. _Well excuse me, your rudeness!_

She gave him a silent glare before situating herself on the empty stool next to him. The bartender came up to her and asked what she would like. Sakura just ordered some sake and quickly dismissed the bartender.

She turned back to the Uchiha. "So, uh…nice weather we're having, right? Hehe…" She tried.

"_Smooth, Sakura. Real smooth…" _Inner Sakura commented.

From her hiding place behind a large pot plant, Ino slapped her forehead.

_Oh, brother…_

Itachi placed his glass down and turned towards the rosette. Sakura faltered at his intense stare.

_What is he-?_

"Sakura-san," his voice said, cutting off her thoughts.

"Y-yes?"

"It's the beginning of winter," Itachi murmured tersely.

Sakura tilted her head to her side. "Huh?"

"Since you're a medic-nin I would have believed that you of all people should know that this kind of weather is quite unsuited for you to be wearing such…" his eyes scanned her up and down. "…an inappropriate choice of clothing."

Sakura sputtered in disbelief. "I can assure you that I am perfectly fine, Itachi-san," she said through gritted teeth.

"Hm."

As if on cue, the wind seeped in through the gap of the door and hit her skin like a ton of bricks. Sakura shivered at the coldness. The ANBU gave of an invisible smirk.

Sea-green eyes glared at him with hatred.

"_What the hell?! He should be excited to see me in such a dress, not giving me fashion tips! Shannaro!" _Inner Sakura seethed.

Deciding that she has had enough of his attitude Sakura picked up her glass of sake and drowned it down in one gulp. She mentally gagged at the taste. How Tsunade and Jiraiya could stand this stuff, she would never know. Her gaze shifted towards the figure sitting next to her. She seethed in anger. How could he just sit there and act like she's not even there. All the thoughts of seducing Itachi have flown out the window at this point.

Sakura slammed her glass down forcefully and yelled at the bartender.

"Give me another glass!"

Ten minutes passed and Sakura had already drowned down six glasses of sake. Her cheeks now had a tint of red to them and her vision was beginning to get blurry.

"More!" Sakura slurred out drunkenly.

Who would have thought that the apprentice of the Slug Princess, Tsunade, could not hold their liquor?

The bartender gave her a pointed look but nevertheless, placed another glass of sake in front of her. Just as soon as Sakura's hand was about to bring the glass of sake to her lips, a hand reached out and grabbed a hold of her wrist, halting her movement.

The drunken rosette turned to face Itachi and gave him a sloppy glare.

"Whadd'ya want?" she slurred, trying to get her wrist free.

"I think you had enough to drink for one day," the elder Uchiha stated quietly.

"Ha!" Sakura laughed. "Who do ya think you are to tell me that? I'm the doctor remember?"

Without waiting for a reply, she brought her lips closer to the glass and took a large gulp.

Itachi's eyes hardened at being ignored.

"That's enough," he commanded.

Again, this was ignored.

Sakura smiled at him drunkenly. "Why don't you try some, I-ta-chi_-kun_?" she suggested slyly, emphasising on the syllables of his name.

Itachi froze. No one, except his mother (and his fan-girls) had ever said his name using that honorific. Even though she was drunk, he had to admit that it did sound good coming from her lips.

He didn't have any more time to think about it because Sakura had now proceeded to force the glass of sake in his direction.

"Drink up, Itachi-kun. It's good for you!" she purred.

Itachi pushed her wrist along with the glass away from his face and gave her an annoyed look.

Sakura pouted when he refused. Her eyes then suddenly glinted mischievously.

"Fine then, Itachi-kun. Then you leave me no other choice," she slurred and took a sip of the sake.

Then without warning, Sakura grabbed a hold his neck with both her arms.

She smiled at him drunkenly. "Time to drink your sake!"

_What the-!_

The next thing Itachi knew was a pair of soft, lush lips connecting with his before his mind went blank.

Oh, boy.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Thanks for reading! Hope Itachi wasn't too OOC. Please tell me if he was and I'll try and fix him up in the later chapters. Review please. Flames are not accepted. By the way if you haven't noticed, I changed the dialogue from '…' to "…". See you in the next chapter!

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:  
**_QueenThayet12990  
__TeenageCrisis  
__Kikyo10  
pfyt  
senshi moon  
anonymous  
temarisuna  
rebellious-and-ditzy-bookworm  
1245sakura  
inujenzy  
inogirl37  
ChibiPARADE  
shiira  
Blood Blossom_

Thanks a lot for reviewing.

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	3. Blackmail is a Bitch

**Author's Note:**  
Here's chapter three! I kinda want to pair Ino up with someone in this fic and decided on Shisui. ShisuIno anyone? But don't worry, it's only minor. This chapter has not been edited to please tell me if you find any mistakes. Your help is very much appreciated. By the way, if you want to know how old Shisui is he's just two year older than Itachi, which makes him twenty-three. I didn't want to make him seem too old.

**-X-**

**Chapter Three**_  
-Blackmail is a Bitch -_

**-X-**

Ino wanted to scream really badly. Her fingers were itching to tear her blonde hair from their roots. Why was Sakura just sitting there?! Five minutes have already passed since the pink haired kunoichi confronted Itachi. She was supposed to be seducing him not glaring at the back of his head. It was a miracle that shewas still alive at this point. From what the rumours told no one had ever given Itachi the evils and had gotten away with it alive, except his mother. From what Ino had heard from Sakura, who in return heard from Sasuke, Itachi, despite being a cold-hearted socially retarded bastard, was actually a mama's boy. The thought was so unbelievable that Ino had burst of in fits of laughter the moment she heard it. She just could not imagine Konoha's well-known and strongest ANBU captain worshiping his mother and obeying her as if she was a queen.

"Ino?" a voice suddenly broke through her thoughts.

The said kunoichi turned around hastily to find a pair of dark curious orbs looking down at her. Beside him was a woman with long red hair clutching his arm tightly, glaring at her.

"Shisui-san, what brings you here?" she asked, ignoring the hostility from the other female.

Before the older shinobi could respond, the woman hanging off of him tugged on his arm impatiently.

"Shisui-kun let's go!" she whined like a child.

Ino couldn't resist the urge to snort and roll her eyes at the sight.

Shisui shifted uncomfortably and tried to shake the red-head off. Keyword, _tried_.

"Can you please leave, Yuriko-chan. I need to speak with her," he gestured towards the platinum-blonde.

Yuriko leered at Ino with her stormy-grey eyes. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and looked her up and down.

"What are you, a slut?" she sneered, taking in the skimpy dress that Ino was wearing.

Ino's eyes twitched. _How dare this bitch call me a slut!_

"Takes one to know one," the kunoichi spat at her.

The red-head released a huff of anger and stormed off. Ino gave her the finger as she stormed away. Shisui couldn't help but let out a laugh. Although it looked as if the two were fighting over him, he just couldn't help but find it hilarious.

"You surprised me. I never knew that you had a spit-fired personality like Sakura-chan," he mused. "I'm impressed." Shisui gave her a charming grin.

Ino crossed her arms and looked away, her cheeks slowly turning red. She didn't know why her heart was suddenly beating so fast. But after seeing the older Uchiha giving off a grin, she felt immense heat travelling up her neck and towards her face. Why was she feeling this way?

"So, what brings you to a place like this anyway?" Shisui interrupted, completely oblivious to the blonde's blushing face.

Ino turned around to face him; her blush finally settling down.

"Well, it's because of a dare that Sakura has to perform," she explained slowly, not wanting to give out too much information.

Shisui's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really? What kind of dare?" he asked.

Ino looked into the Uchiha's eyes, seeing if she could trust him. After all, Shisui is the target, Uchiha Itachi's cousin. What if he suddenly freaks out and decides to blow their cover. She and Sakura will be dead in less than a minute if that happens. But the looks in his eyes told her that Shisui wasn't trying to be sneaky; just curious. Ino felt that she can trust him on this.

So she took in a deep breath and began her explanation. To her surprise Shisui didn't look angry or shocked. In fact, he looked quite amused by the news.

His gaze shifted towards the area of the bar where Itachi and Sakura are located. His eyes immediately widened at the sight.

_What the hell?!_

"But it's been minutes since the dare had started and Forehead still hasn't made her move!" Ino complained.

"Actually...I think she has."

The blonde blinked. "What do you mean?" she inquired, moving her eyes towards the place where her friend was at.

Her jaw dropped towards the floor at the sight of roaming hands.

"Oh my God!" she nearly shrieked.

She knew that it was eventually going to happen, but this soon?!

"Wow," Shisui said stunned. "I can't believe what I'm seeing."

"Me neither," Ino said, finally beginning to calm down. "I never expected this to happen so quickly. I thought that it would at least take a few months or even years."

The older Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you come here in the first place if you thought that she wouldn't have been able to pull it off tonight?" he asked.

Ino shrugged. "I don't know. I was bored, I guess."

Shisui sweat dropped and turned back to the scene. It's really hard to believe that his cousin was doing something like this in public. In the past, Shisui had tried to set Itachi up with many of the woman in their clan but the ebony haired man had flatly rejected them all, saying how he doesn't agree with incest. So he tried again but this time with women from outside the Uchiha clan. But once again no results had shown. This time his cousin stated that none of the women in the village have yet to live up to his expectations and knowing Itachi, his expectations of a suitable partner was exceptionally high.

The female had to smart enough for Itachi to have a decent conversation with. She must not have any filth attached to her background and must be younger than him. She must not be obsessed with him, which really limits down the number of females in the village. Almost all of them are obsessed with Itachi. Shisui wasn't sure if he should be jealous or feel pity for him. Finally, the female must be a skilled kunoichi that can protect herself from the enemy. The last thing Itachi needs was extra weight on his back.

So far the only kunoichis that Shisui knew that wasn't obsessed with his cousin are Tsunade, Shizune, Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Temari, Hana, Anko and Sakura. Tsunade, Shizune and Hana are older than Itachi so that immediately crosses them off the list. Anko...he didn't even want to think about that. Tenten, Hinata and Temari wouldn't work either because from what he heard they all have crushes on someone else. Ino would also be no, though he couldn't figure out the reason why. Shisui tried to picture Ino and Itachi together and immediately shook his head. They won't work out. So the only one left is Sakura…

Suddenly a great idea sprung into his mind.

"I'll be back in second," he told Ino and immediately dashed off before the blonde could respond.

A few seconds later he reappeared with a black device in his hands.

"Why do you have that?" Ino questioned confusedly.

Shisui's face broke out into a mad grin.

"I just came up with the greatest idea ever," he said smugly.

The blonde's slender eyebrow rose. "Oh, really. What is it then?"

The dark haired man chuckled evilly and leaned in to whisper the plan to the blonde.

After hearing it, Ino grinned. "I like the way you think, Shisui-san," she said impressed.

Shisui laughed and positioned the item in his hands; his eyes glinting mischievously.

"Now then, let the games begin."

**-X-**

Itachi couldn't recall what had exactly happened in the last few minutes. His mind could only remember being at a bar, having a peaceful and tranquil moment to himself and the next thing he knew, a pink haired kunoichi had captured his lips with her own. At first he tried to push her away but two things had prevented him from doing so. One; her arms are wrapped around his neck tightly and two; his hands would not move. Itachi didn't know why but he just couldn't bring himself to push her off and then knock her out with his Sharingan.

Unconsciously, his body began to respond to her actions. His tongue slipped into her parted lips and captured her tongue in a heated dance. A throaty moan escaped Sakura lips. Itachi's hands slide up and down her curves, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. Although she was drunk, Sakura couldn't help but feel aroused by his actions.

She wanted more.

Suddenly a few small flash of lights caught their attention. Itachi immediately came back to his senses and forcefully broke away from the kiss. His onyx coloured orbs turned towards the direction of the light. No one was there. It must have been his imagination. But thanks to that, he finally regained control over his own body. Just what in the world was he doing, disgracing the Uchiha name by performing such inappropriate actions on a drunk female no less?

"Itachi-kun? Why did you stop?" Sakura slurred, trying to pull him back for more.

The ANBU captain quickly dodged her arms and gave her an impassive stare.

"Itachi-kun…?" the dazed kunoichi started, but then her vision started to get blurry.

The last thing she saw before dropping unconscious was a pair of intimidating crimson-red eyes giving her a look that contained an emotion that she couldn't make out.

**-X-**

Uchiha Mikoto was hardly ever surprised. But who wouldn't be when they see her son, Itachi carrying an unconscious girl back to his home, bridal-style. She did wonder why her son didn't show up for the clan meeting today. Mikoto guessed that the pink haired girl was the reason. Somehow the girl seemed familiar to her as if she had seen her before. Suddenly realization dawned on her. Sasuke did mention that his female teammate had pink hair. As far as Mikoto knew the number of people in Konoha with pink hair was very limited. So could she be Sasuke's teammate Haruno Sakura? But still, the real question was why is Itachi bringing a girl into their house?

"Itachi, is that Sakura-san?" the onyx haired woman asked slowly.

Itachi nodded, glancing down at the girl in his arms.

"What happened?" Mikoto inquired in a soft but commanding tone.

"She got drunk. I didn't know where she lives so I decided to bring her here," the ANBU captain explained quietly, deliberately missing out on the really important details of their encounter.

As much as he trusted his mother, he just couldn't bare the thought of letting her know. She would just jump to conclusions and try and find ways of setting them up together. He wasn't about to let that happen.

"Alright then, take her up to the guest room," Mikoto told, turning back to her dishes.

Itachi nodded and proceeded upstairs with Sakura still unconscious in his arms. Opening the doors to the guest room, he set her down on the futon gently. His eyes drifted towards her peaceful face. Moonlight filtered through the curtains and onto Sakura's skin, making it glow slightly. Itachi never noticed it before but realized that despite her bad temper and viciousness she was quite attractive. Not as beautiful as the females in his clan but still pleasant to the eye.

Realizing that he had been staring for way too long, Itachi excused himself and walked out the door, closing it behind in gently. Making his way downstairs he noticed that his mother was no longer in the kitchen, but instead was in the lounge talking to someone. Eyes narrowing, he made his way towards the sound of giggles and laughter. Itachi raised an eyebrow. What were Shisui and Yamanaka doing here at a time like this?

"Hey, Itachi!" Shisui called, seeing his friend/cousin walk into the room.

Itachi nodded at them. "Shisui, Yamanaka-san," he murmured.

Mikoto smiled and stood up from the couch. "Alright, now that Itachi's here, I need to get back to work," she announced, walking back into the kitchen.

"What are you two doing here?" the ANBU captain asked, not bothering to take a seat.

"We're here to negotiate, Itachi-san," Ino spoke.

"About what?"

Shisui chuckled. "Getting you a girlfriend, of course!" he exclaimed.

Itachi gave him a blank expression and turned to leave. "I have no interest in such," he said tersely.

"Oh, really? It didn't seem that way to me back at the bar."

The younger Uchiha in the room froze. Could he mean…?

As if reading his mind, Shisui snickered evilly. "That's right, we saw the whole thing, Itachi_-kun_," he said mockingly.

Ino giggled. "And we even took pictures as proof," she added.

At that sentence, Itachi spun his heel around and gave them both a glare.

"Hand them over now," he commanded coldly.

Shisui clicked his tongue. "Nah-uh, sorry Itachi I can't give it to you. As a matter of fact we're planning on distributing it to the entire village. Everyone will know in less than an hour!"

Itachi inwardly paled at the thought but his facial expressions remained cold.

"Shisui…"

"_And_ you can't kill me for it because your mother will get mad if you do that."

Itachi resisted the urge to growl. How did he know that his mother was his weakness anyway? He could never do anything bad in front of his mother because that woman can be down-right scary when needed. Even Itachi was afraid of her sometimes.

"If you don't want the village to know, then let's make a deal. We won't sell the photos out to the village, but in return…"

Itachi braced himself for the worse.

"...we want you to court Haruno Sakura."

Oh, boy.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Thanks for reading. Please leave a review. Flames are not accepted. If you have any questions please ask. What did you think of the ShisuIno pairing? Good or bad? Please tell me in a review. But for now, see you in the next chapter.

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:  
**_-Akatsuki's-Hime-Dine-Chan-  
AkatsukiGrl101  
minniemousemom  
ItaSaku love  
__Blood Blossom  
Kira-san  
leahuk  
Ms. Anny .O  
rebellious-and-ditzy-bookworm  
RandomnessRuler95  
senshi moon__  
slykittymeowmeow  
inujenzy  
ItaXSakuLuva  
QueenThayet12990  
sailorcherryblossom  
jo107  
snoetiger  
fionfee  
Regin_

Thanks for reviewing in the last chapter!

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	4. Predator and Prey

**Author's Note:**  
I think this chapter might have been a bit shorter than the others but I tried my best to make it as long as possible. Anyway, here's chapter four. Hope you find it satisfying to read and I'm glad that no one has yet to disagree with the ShisuIno pairing. Oh, by the way Shisui's appearance has finally been revealed in chapter 459 in the manga.

**-X-**

**Chapter Four**_  
-Predator and Prey-_

**-X-**

Itachi was going to kill Shisui. He had considered the use of either a katana straight through the heart or poisoning his food. But since Itachi was not a big fan of bloodshed the latter option seemed more appealing. He decided to spare the Yamanaka though, thinking that his cousin must have somehow dragged the poor kunoichi into his evil schemes. If only he knew…

He could already imagine the face of Shisui contorted in pain and anguish as the poison slowly worked through his system. His mother would burst into the room and scold and glare at him as if there was no tomorrow and at the same time tend to Shisui, who would probably already be dead at this point. Then Mikoto would unleash her wrath and waves of hostility on her _innocent _son before he can even say 'it was an accident'.

The Uchiha's face inwardly blanched at the thought. The last thing he needed was his mother to haunt his dreams day and night with her eerie gazes. If only his mother wasn't so scary then he wouldn't have a problem in murdering his blackmailer of a cousin.

If only _she _didn't show up yesterday night at the bar.

His body stiffened in realization. How could he have not realized this? Shisui and Yamanaka are not the only ones that were involved. _She_ was in it as well. In fact, none of this would have happened if _she_ hadn't had made her moves on him. That way he wouldn't have responded to her actions and Shisui and Yamanaka wouldn't have gotten this chance to blackmail him.

Itachi got up from his futon; his eyes darkening with animosity. Now he knows who his true target was.

This was all _her _fault.

**-X-**

There were many times in life where Sakura was woken up from her peaceful slumber by unwanted disturbances, such as Naruto banging on her door at two o'clock in the morning, demanding to know if she was unmarred from her mission with a certain someone's ANBU team. Needless to say, the blonde had learned his lesson the day he was put into the hospital with two broken arms and two cracked ribs. It was a wide known fact that Sakura was not a morning person.

But never once in her life has she ever woken up to the sound herself _sneezing_. Perhaps she was catching a cold. After all, it was the beginning of winter.

She sat up on the futon with a disoriented expression on her face. Her hazy eyes scanned tiredly around the room, somehow finding it unfamiliar. She shook her head and got up from the futon. It must be all the alcohol that she consumed yesterday. Sakura staggered out of the bedroom into the bathroom, once again finding the surrounding foreign. Deciding to deal to with this fact later Sakura shrugged off her dress and walked into the shower box. She shivered as the freezing cold water came in contact with her skin but her expression immediately became relaxed as the water slowly warmed up. She could feel the stress and migraine disappear under the soothing heat.

After a few more minutes in the shower, she got out and grabbed the nearest towel and began drying her body. Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes narrowed blankly towards her clothing on the floor. Aside from the dress, there weren't any other clothes in the room that she could see and she wasn't about to get in that ridiculous outfit again. Sakura let out an annoyed sign and wrapped the towel around her body tightly. Maybe she'll be able to find some clothes back in that bedroom. Her hand reached for the door handle and twisted it open.

Her eyes and mouth widened.

Sea-green eyes met shocked onyx ones.

Sakura did what any other girl would in this situation.

She let out an ear-piercing scream.

**-X-**

He swears that his ears had gone deaf from that insanely loud scream. This was definitely not a great wake-up call. All he wanted was to take a long hot shower and this was what he gets? His eyes glared at the female before him, clad only in a towel. But he couldn't help but wonder why she is here at a place like this anyway?

"W-what are you doing in my house?!" Sakura shrieked, clutching the towel tightly.

He raised an eyebrow. "I think you need to get yourself checked into the hospital, Sakura. You obviously have brain damage to make a senseless mistake such as this," he stated.

Sea-green eyes glared at him. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"This is my house, Sakura."

She blinked.

"…"

"…"

"What the hell am I doing here?!" she shrieked to herself.

The male in front of her glared. "That's what I like to know," he said, scanning his eyes down her body. "Why aren't you dressed?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault that the bathroom doesn't have any extra clothes," she muttered.

He sighed. "Did you even bother to check inside the cupboards?"

"Well…no, but-"

He cut her off by walking past her and opened the cupboard door. He got out some clothes and handed it to her.

Sakura smiled and accepted the clothes. "Thanks Sasuke-kun," she said.

"Whatever, just get out of my house once you're done," he muttered, walking off.

Sakura frowned at his rudeness but quickly dismissed it. After being teammates with him for so long she was already used to his attitude. Closing the bathroom door, she quickly got dressed in the outfit. Once she was done, she inspected herself in the mirror. She was wearing the standard black high-collared Uchiha clan shirt with the fan symbol on the back and a pair of creamy-white casual pants. Although it was comfortable, the clothes were a bit too big for her. She took in the masculine scent lingering on the attire. Must be Sasuke-kun's, she mused.

Deciding to not waste anymore time at his house, Sakura picked up her dress and swiftly walked out the room and towards the front door.

Never once did she notice the pair of dark eyes that followed her every movement.

**-X-**

Uchiha Shisui was beginning to get worried, which was quite a rare case because he's known as Shunshin no Shisui, a shinobi known to accept any mission no matter how dangerous they were. So why was he worried?

"Are you okay, Shisui?" Ino asked after taking a bite of her dango.

She decided that since they are going to work together in this blackmailing plan, she might as well drop the honorific. Besides, Shisui-san was beginning to sound a bit too formal.

Shisui shook his head and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine," he tried to convince her.

Ino was not convinced and he knew that.

The Uchiha sighed and took a bite of his food. "Alright, I'll tell you. I'm beginning to feel as if this scheme of ours is going to backfire and Itachi's going to come after me really soon." He shivered at the thought of a blood-thirsty ANBU captain.

Ino sighed. "I believe you're thinking a bit too much, Shisui," she remarked. "Remember, we have Mikoto-san to back us up. So even if Itachi-san does decide to murder you in cold blood, he won't make it out alive either." She gave him a cheeky grin.

The Uchiha gave her a dead-panned expression. "If that's supposed to make me feel better then sadly it's not working," he muttered.

The blonde laughed. "Well, I tried my best, Shisui."

Shisui decided that even though she was the worst person to go to for assurance and comfort, he liked the sound of her laughter.

**-X-**

Sakura wanted to sigh as Naruto's idiotic actions caused a fight to break out between him and the Daimyo's wife's cat. How did they end up with such a lame mission anyway? It was freaking D-ranked! A genin team should be doing this assignment, not a team of jounin. Tsunade must have been really pissed with Naruto charging into her office, demanding for a real mission. The blonde Hokage must have been in a really foul mood to assign them such a lowly ranked mission, especially one which involves that damn cat.

"Let's head back," Sasuke stated frowning.

Apparently, he didn't agree with such a lame mission as well. But Sakura couldn't blame him. She didn't like this either.

Not only was it too easy, it was also a waste of time. It had taken them three hours to catch the feline. It must have been used to running off all the time to be able to avoid them for so long. But at long last, the mission was over.

Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for the cat as her owner cuddled the life out of her.

The team left the building and into the streets of Konoha. Darkness blanketed the skies and the stars shone brightly overhead. Sakura took in a deep breath of the air, inhaling its nighttime freshness.

"See you later, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved, walking towards the direction of his apartment.

Sakura smiled at the blonde before turning towards her Uchiha teammate, who in return was looking at her impassively.

"I'll return you your clothes later," she said.

"They're not-"

Before Sasuke could say another word she was gone.

Sakura made her way towards the direction of her house slowly, admiring the nighttime view of the village. Even though she did say that she would return his clothes, she has no intention of doing so just yet. In fact, she was planning on wearing them tonight as her sleeping attire.

Suddenly she shivered, feeling a sudden wave of hostility coming from behind her. Her pink hair swivelled around along with her head.

No one was there.

The rosette shrugged, thinking it must have been the wind, before proceeding back to her house.

From up in a large tree, pale lips curved into a frown as crimson coloured orbs flashed dangerously.

**-X-**

Sunlight trickled through the blue curtains and onto the sleeping figure. Sakura moaned and covered her head with the blankets to shield her body from the evil known as sunlight. A beeping sound rang through the room annoyingly. She groaned in frustration and slammed her fist down on the poor alarm clock, shattering it into pieces. It looks like she would have to buy another alarm clock…again.

Her gaze shifted tiredly towards the mirror. Her hair and clothes were an absolute mess. She sighed, noticing that her room was too dark.

Guess it was time to let the evil sunlight in.

Her hand reached out and pulled the curtains open…

…

…

…

…only to meet a pair of Sharingan eyes staring down at her.

The curtains immediately closed and before you knew it, a high-pitched scream rang through the semi-tranquil streets of Konoha.

Maybe it would have been better if she never woke up this morning.

Oh, boy.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
I also forgot to mention this but English is not my first language so please forgive me if you find any common mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me. Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter! Please review!

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
jo107  
QueenThayet12990  
-Akatsuki's-Hime-Dine-Chan-  
Scarlet-Rose Morseta  
Ms. Anny .O  
Incondite. Lies.  
Still Doll Princess  
rebellious-and-ditzy-bookworm  
senshi moon  
MarzSpy  
Blood Blossom  
sleeping itasaku fangirl  
minniemousemom  
ItaXSakuLuva  
Kaida Rita  
DigiLoveReader  
Maelie  
sweet-cookie  
The Blood Thirsty Sliver Wolf  
Lady Phoenix Grey  
LitoxShorty  
TeamTHEFT  
Cherryblossomgirl_

Thanks for reviewing in the previous chapter. :)

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	5. Her Scary Stalker

**Author's Note:**  
I don't know why but I'm not quite happy with this chapter. I'll let you decide on it after you've finished reading. And thanks to the reviewer that pointed out that I had trouble with my tenses. Hope it's less apparent in this chapter. Shisui and Ino aren't in this chapter but I'll try and fit them in somewhere in the next. Hope you enjoy!

**-X-**

**Chapter Five**_  
-Her Scary Stalker-_

**-X-**

She was known as Haruno Sakura, Tsunade's apprentice, a loyal jounin kunoichi of Konoha and one of the best and youngest medic-nin in the village. But most of all, she was able to handle any type of situation that people throw at her; from baby sitting a bunch of annoying brats to hunting dangerous S-rank criminals with Konoha's top ANBU team. Never once had she ever felt this terrified before, and no she was not referring to the fact that Uchiha Itachi was outside her house with only a thin piece of glass and soft blue curtains separating them apart. What really got her worked up was the fact that he knew where she lived.

I mean, stalker much…?

With slow and cautious steps, Sakura made her way towards the window. Her shaking hands reached out and nonchalantly pulled opened one side of the curtain.

There he was in all his glory, perched on top of the maple tree. His hair blew in the wind gently and she couldn't help but feel jealous. And to think that she had spent most her money on finding the perfect hair products and yet her hair never flows as smoothly as his.

Damn you, Uchiha.

Sudden movements from the ebony haired man immediately whipped her out of her daydream. Itachi gestured his hand towards the window and his eyes gave her a silent message which she caught loud and clear.

'Open the window,' his eyes conveyed.

_Oh, hell no! _Sakura screamed in her mind, shutting the curtains once again.

Even though the curtains had blocked her view of him, she could sense the frown that was beginning to make its way up to his face. Sakura backed away from the window, feeling a wave of distress slowly starting to wash over her. Her feet started to pace around the room.

_What do I do? What do I do? What the hell do I do?!_

She chuckled nervously, slowly losing what was left of her sanity.

"M-maybe if I ignore him he'll go away?" It came out more like a question.

So, that's what she did.

Eventually, two minutes have passed and she decided that it was time to check again to see if the devil was still there. To her immense relief he was gone.

She dropped her hand away from the curtain and sighed.

"Thank god, he's gone."

"Who is?"

Sakura let out a high-pitched shriek, startled by the sudden voice from behind. Her head whirled around only to see Itachi staring down at her with what seemed like a smirk on his face.

Without warning, she lashed her clenched fist out towards the ANBU captain, hoping to make a dent in that pretty face of his. But sadly, luck was not on her side. Itachi's hand simply shot up and grabbed her wrist tightly, halting her movements.

"That's hardly polite, _Sakura_," he drawled out her name slowly.

Sakura stiffened and gave him a glare. "So is coming into my house uninvited," she seethed.

Itachi clicked his tongue soundlessly and scanned his eyes around her room; his grip never loosened around her wrist. Clothes of all different colours were lying out on the floor as well as a couple of kunai and shuriken. On her desk were medical scrolls along with a few female items. In other words, her room was a complete mess.

But what really caught his attention was the photo of her teammates. Just by looking at the pink haired girl in the picture, Itachi just could not believe that such a weak and naïve genin had been this spit-fired woman, who was now struggling in his grasp.

Deciding to take a look closer at the photo, Itachi loosened his hand from Sakura's and proceeded forward. But before he could walk as much as two steps his foot came in contact with something soft. The ANBU bent down and picked up the item, raising an eyebrow in the process.

Before he could comment on it further the item was snatched away forcefully by the kunoichi, who then immediately turned around and blushed, hiding the item with her arms.

Itachi let out an invisible smirk. "I see that you're a fan of pandas," he commented.

Sakura twisted her head around and gave him a glare. "Shut up!" she hissed, red in the face from both anger and embarrassment.

Of all things that Itachi had to pick up it just had to be her panda-patterned panties. You may ask why she would have an item like this in the first place. Well the answer was really simple. It had happened on the day of Sakura sixteenth birthday. Naruto was around the streets of Konoha looking to buy the perfect gift for her, but was totally clueless of what to get. Kakashi had sardonically suggested that he should get her a new pair of undergarments and Naruto, being his usual idiot self, actually took that comment seriously. Needless to say, Sakura had never been more embarrassed in her life. But despite that, she just didn't have the heart to burn the disturbing present. After all, Naruto was one of her best friends and his presents mean a lot to her, despite being undergarments.

Her gaze shifted back to the Uchiha that was still in her room. She had momentarily forgotten about him. Itachi had turned his Sharingan off and his obsidian coloured eyes returned back to inspecting her room.

"You seem quite organized," he said flatly, almost in a sarcastic manner.

Sakura flared up at the comment. "Would you mind telling me what you're doing in my house, Itachi-san?" she asked, trying to control herself from lashing out at the ANBU captain. "I doubt that you're here to _observe _my room."

Itachi chuckled. "Yes, as a matter of fact you're quite right. I'm here to make my intentions clear to you," he announced in that smooth tone of his.

"And your intentions would be?"

"Courting you," the reply came.

Sakura blinked. "…I'm sorry but are you drunk?" she asked with incredulity.

"No Sakura, I'm one hundred percent sober."

"…"

"…"

"I refuse," she stated flatly, giving him a hard stare.

Itachi smiled almost darkly. "That wasn't a request, Sakura," he spoke, grabbing both her shoulders and leaning down towards her ear.

Sakura shivered as his hot breath made contact with her flesh.

"It was a demand. You got me into this mess and you're going to get me out and I always get what I want."

The pressure on her shoulders was suddenly lifted. She looked up to see him standing a few feet away with his back turned. Sakura could tell that he was ready to make his leave, seeing as how his hand inched towards the window.

"What do you mean by 'you got me into this mess'?" The question slipped out before she could keep it in. "What are you talking about?"

"It's something that you do not need to concern yourself with," he said tersely. "By the way…"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, even though she knows that he couldn't see it. "What?"

"I see that _my_ clothes fit you quite well." He gave her a blank smile. "I'm glad."

And then he disappeared, leaving behind a wide-eyed pink haired medic.

**-X-**

"So, where do you want to go, Sasuke-kun?"

The raven haired shinobi shrugged. "Wherever's fine," he muttered, occasionally sending glances at the slightly perturbed female beside him.

It was one in the afternoon when Sakura had arrived at the Uchiha training grounds looking for him. The anxious expression to her face immediately turned into relief once she had spotted the young Uchiha, though Sasuke couldn't understand why. She immediately invited him out for lunch with a stressful look on her face. Sasuke voluntarily agreed, knowing that she had lost her fan-girl side of him ages ago. Besides, he wanted to find out what was troubling her so much.

The two jounins arrived at Ichiraku Ramen. Strangely enough, their ramen-loving teammate, Naruto was not present. As soon as Sakura stepped inside Ichiraku, she froze.

Seated on the stool at the far end of the stand was a familiar ebony haired man who was the main cause of her torment. From the looks of things, he seemed to have yet to notice her presence. If only she knew…

Quickly as she could, Sakura slipped out of the stand and grabbed onto a stunned Sasuke and proceeded to drag him away from the stand.

"Where are we going now?" he asked feeling slightly annoyed.

Sakura didn't answer, instead she focused on escaping. Why was Itachi at Ichiraku? He was never seen there before so why now? It was almost as if he was waiting for _her_. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. It was bad enough that he was the first thing that she had to deal with this morning. The last thing she needed was for him to stalk her 24/7.

"Do you mind letting go of my wrist now?" came Sasuke irked voice.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, letting go of his arm.

They were currently standing in a semi-isolated meadow a few meters away from Ichiraku. A few kids were playing ninja a few meters away from them. The grass was covered faintly with a thin sheet of snow, signalling the start of winter. Sakura shivered slightly at the cold. Maybe she should have worn something more decent before coming out this morning.

"You mind telling me why you dragged me all the way here?" Sasuke asked in a clipped tone.

"Well…uh…"

"…Let me guess, is it because of my brother?"

Sakura looked up startled. "W-what gave you that idea?" she asked; her fingers twitching slightly.

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. "Itachi came to me this morning inquiring about why you were wearing one of his shirts and from the way that you reacted upon seeing him at Ichiraku explains everything," he said flatly.

"Well aren't you a know-it-all," the rosette muttered under her breath.

The Uchiha scoffed. "You're just too easy to read," he stated.

"_Well, excuse me Mr. I-have-a-large-stick-stuck-up-my-ass-so-I-must-not-show-emotion!" _Inner Sakura fumed.

"And I know that you hardly ever invite me out unless it's important," he added. "You mind telling what's on your mind." It didn't sound like a question at all.

Sakura sighed, knowing that there was no way to escape.

"Let's discuss this over some lunch," she suggested, putting a hand on her flat stomach. "Where would you like to eat?"

"Anywhere just along as it's not sweets," Sasuke said dully.

…

…

…

…

…

"I shouldn't have said that," the Uchiha muttered bitterly to himself.

Sakura allowed herself to smirk evilly as she took a seat at one of the tables at the dango shop. Sasuke decided that this must be her payback for his earlier comment about her being too obvious.

"Alright, now that we're here, tell me what Itachi has done."

Sakura sighed, setting her tea cup down and began her explanation. Once she was finished, Sakura took one look at her teammate's face and could tell that he was slightly disturbed.

"So…" Sasuke started slowly; his mind still trying to process the information. "You're telling me that Itachi showed up out of nowhere and decided that he suddenly wants to court you." It sounded more like a statement than a question.

Sakura nodded numbly, burying her head into her hands. "I don't what to do anymore!" she wailed. "It feels as if every corner that I turn, he's going to be there waiting for me. Please, Sasuke, tell me what I can do."

"Nothing."

Sakura sputtered in shock. "What do mean nothing?!" she almost shrieked.

Sasuke sighed and gave her a hard look. "Exactly what I just said; you do nothing. I don't know what you did to capture Itachi's attention but I do know that he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants," he explained flatly. "Basically, you're screwed."

The medic gave him a dead-panned look. "Thanks for the reassurance, Sasuke-kun," she said sardonically.

"Hn," he intoned. "You'll just have to wait until he loses interest and gets bored. Just ignore him the best you can."

Sakura snorted into her drink. "Easier said than done," she grumbled.

Trying to ignore Itachi was like trying to ignore Orochimaru dancing in a pink tutu dress. In other words, it was impossible. She was now starting to wonder why she decided to ask Sasuke of all people for advice. He sucked at reassurance. Even Naruto would give better advice than the stoic Uchiha. But then again, if Naruto heard this news he would go on a rampage. Sometimes he could just be too overprotective of her. Sasuke on the other hand…

She took a bite of her dango and peered back at Sasuke's direction, only to find him staring at something behind him with shock-filled eyes.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. "What are y-?"

"Sasuke," a deep but smooth voice interrupted her.

"Aniki," Sasuke said indifferently.

Sakura almost choked on her food. _Sasuke's older brother? You mean as in-?!_

"I see we meet again, Sakura," the ANBU captain remarked, the corners of his lips twitching upwards.

This time Sakura did choke on her food. Three times in one day? She was starting to sense a pattern creating here. What next, him appearing in her bedroom again tonight before she goes to bed? The more she thought about it the more perplexed she gets.

Sakura was really starting to wonder if the elder Uchiha was actually capable of stalking.

Oh, boy.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
I know…I suck at humour… But still, I tried my best. If you have any questions please ask me in a review and I'll answer them as best I can. Please review! Flames are not accepted but constructive criticism is. See you in the next chapter! :)

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:_  
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Thanks a lot for reviewing in the previous chapter!

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	6. Date with Disaster

**Author's Note:**  
Thanks for sticking with me so far in this story. I must say this has to be my favourite story that I've ever written. Though I'm still having problems with my tenses. It's getting better though...I think... Anyway, Itachi and Sakura might be a bit out of character in this chapter. I'll let you decide whether they are or not after you finish reading. Until then, enjoy!

**-X-**

**Chapter Six**_  
-Date with Disaster-_

**-X-**

Sasuke couldn't have felt more annoyed in the sixteen years of his life. Not only was he forcefully dragged around the village by Sakura, he was also forced to eat dango for lunch. It was a wide known fact that Uchiha Sasuke did not have a sweet tooth and never will. And the presence of his brother wasn't helping either. Sasuke inwardly cursed Sakura for this. What on Earth did she do to capture his attention anyway? But from the way that Itachi was eyeing her as if she was a piece of meat, Sasuke immediately retracted his thoughts. He would rather not find out.

"Aniki," came Sasuke's clipped tone. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi's mouth twitched up slightly before he took a seat on the empty chair beside Sakura.

"I just wanted to get something to eat before heading out for my mission," the ANBU captain responded, shooting the kunoichi from beside him several glances.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably, finding him to be too close for comfort. Deciding that she should just ignore him, Sakura picked up her half-eaten dango stick and chewed into it slowly. Her sea-green eyes occasionally shifted back to the elder Uchiha sitting beside her.

_It'll be alright,_ she told herself. _After all, Sasuke's here so there's no need to worry._

"A mission?" the younger Uchiha's interest perked up. "What kind?"

Itachi smiled slightly and shook his head. "That's classified information, Sasuke. I'm sure you know that," he said.

"Hn."

"But I can tell you that it has to do with a certain someone."

Sasuke's brow rose in surprise. "You mean Orochimaru?" he asked, keeping his tone even.

Itachi nodded. "Aa," he intoned.

Sakura couldn't help but listen. Orochimaru. That name had brought back bad memories. Not only did he gave Sasuke the curse mark, it also made Sakura think back on how weak and helpless she was back then. All she could do was stand there and watch as Naruto and Sasuke fought for their lives.

Her grip on the dango stick tightened. That was why she practically begged Tsunade to train her in the art of medical ninjutsu. She was surprised that the blonde Hokage had not kicked her out of the office that day. Tsunade must have recognized something in Sakura that she herself did not know she had.

From that day onwards, Sakura swore to herself that she would work her hardest under Tsunade's tutelage in order to protect her teammates and forget about all the bad events that had happened in the past. Including Orochimaru and the day that Sasuke had almost left their side.

**-X-**

_Sakura didn't know why she hadn't told Naruto about the curse mark on Sasuke's neck nor the fact why she was walking towards the direction of his house. But the fact that Sasuke seemed to be getting a bit hostile lately was beginning to bother her. As far as she knew, Sasuke had always been a calm and quite person. Never once had he ever unleashed his anger on her and Naruto. That was, until they had the fight on the hospital roof. If Kakashi had not interfered that day, who knows what would have happened. One of them could have ended up dead and that was something that Sakura preferred not to think about._

_Despite them both being unharmed, Sakura knew that the battle had put a scar on all their hearts. As much as she hated to admit it, she was afraid. Afraid of the fact that something like this could happen again. Afraid that Kakashi might not be there to stop them. Afraid of the fact that one of them was going to get hurt or worse. But mostly, she was afraid of the fact that Sasuke would one day leave them._

_Footsteps sounded someone's approach. As the figure drew nearer Sakura's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Her worst nightmare was coming true._

"_What are you doing here at a time like this?" Sasuke asked dully._

_Sakura bowed her head, afraid that if she looked up he'll be able to see the tears that were beginning to form._

"_You're planning on leaving the village," she spoke softly more to herself than to the boy in front of her._

_Sasuke gave her a hard look before proceeding forward. _

_By now, Sakura could feel the trail of hot tears that were running down her face like a waterfall._

"_Why are you doing this?"_

"…"

"…_Why won't you talk to me?" _

"…"

"_Sasuke-kun…" she whispered._

_The Uchiha still refused to turn around. _

_Then, something inside of Sakura snapped._

"_WHY WON'T YOU LOOK AT ME?!" she shrieked loudly._

_The raven haired male turned, startled from his female teammate's outburst, though his face didn't reveal anything._

"_Why are you doing this?" her voice almost came out as a whimper. Right now, she could care less on how weak she sounded. "Is it because we're not enough? Is it because of Naruto or Kakashi-sensei or…me?" she choked out the last word. "Please, Sasuke-kun, don't go. We all need you here." _

Especially me…

_Sasuke's body began to shake. After hearing all that talk coming from Sakura, he was starting to lose grip on his emotions. It was only a matter of time before Sakura was going to say something that will make him regret his decision even more. _

_He had to end it now._

"_Sakura, I have to do this," he told her firmly, before proceeding to walk away._

_The genin shook her head fiercely, flinging her tears in all different directions. "Please don't leave! If you do I'll scream and-!"_

_Before she could take another step forward, Sasuke disappeared and then reappeared behind her. The winds blew gentle in the air, covering the grounds in a blanket of leaves._

"_I'm sorry," were the last words that Sakura had heard before she was knocked out._

**-X-**

The thing that got Sakura confused the most was the fact the he was still in the village the very next day, despite his intentions of leaving. She was convinced that it was just a dream, but the event was so unbelievably real that it made her retract her thoughts. Someone must have apprehended him when he was making his way out. Whoever it was, Sakura was really grateful to them.

Sasuke had met up with her the next day and both of them made a silent agreement as to never speak to anyone of what had happened the night before – not even to Naruto.

The more she thought about it now, the funnier it got. She just couldn't believe that she had loved him, almost to the point where she had confessed. Right now, Sakura could only think of him as a brother – same with Naruto and Sai, despite his rude attitude.

"…kura."

She smiled as she glanced at the younger Uchiha. He had change so much since that day.

"Hey, Sakura…"

Her stomach suddenly let out a low growl. Sakura blushed slightly before picking up her half-eaten dango. But before she could take a bite, a mouth reached over and snagged away the last one and chewed it slowly, savouring its taste.

A few meters away from the shop, a light flashed.

Sakura's jaw mentally dropped. _"Shannaro! He ate our dango!" _Inner Sakura yelled.

"H-hey, that was mine!" she almost yelled at the Uchiha heir.

Itachi gave her a lopsided grin. "You seemed quite occupied earlier so I thought that I should take the dango out of your hands," he said silkily.

Sakura's eyes twitched. _Why you-!_

Sensing that Sakura was about to blow at any second, Sasuke quickly pushed his plate of uneaten dango towards Itachi.

Itachi shook his head. "It's alright, Sasuke," he remarked before letting out a slight smirk. "Besides, Sakura's dango tastes much sweeter than yours." He almost purred.

Sakura and Sasuke both felt a shiver run down their spine at the comment.

_That's it I'm out of here! _The younger Uchiha thought to himself.

"I've got to go," he said tersely, standing up.

Sakura gave him a shocked look. Was he actually thinking of abandoning her?

"Yes," Itachi spoke using his velvet tone of voice. "You do."

"No, Sasuke-kun. I would really appreciate it if you'd stay," Sakura said through gritted teeth.

'You better not leave me here with this lunatic brother of yours!' her eyes screamed.

Sasuke began to fidget uncomfortably. What should he do? If he stayed then Itachi would come after him later and torture him for not obeying. But on the other hand if he left, Sakura would beat the living daylights out of him.

"Sakura, I-"

"I insist, Sasuke," Itachi murmured; his eyes flashing dangerously.

"No, Sasuke-kun…"

"Sasuke…"

"Stay!"

"Go."

"Don't go!"

"Leave, Sasuke."

_Oh God, someone just kill me already! _The younger Uchiha cried inwardly.

Sasuke really wanted to crawl in a hole and just die.

**-X-**

"So you're saying that Sasuke-kun and Itachi-san were both fighting over you?!" Ino asked incredulously.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Sakura protested.

She was never going to visit the dango shop ever again with Itachi in the village. After what had happened, she didn't even have the guts to step out of her house alone anymore.

Her eyes darkened. Sasuke that bastard. She could so tell that he was ready to abandon her right there on the spot if it wasn't for a messenger appearing with a message for Itachi, requesting that he needed to go to see Tsunade. Sakura inwardly thanked Tsunade for her excellent timing.

Itachi had given her a calculating look before paying for her food and disappearing in a flock of crows. Sasuke immediately flashed her a look of pity before leaving. Sakura appreciated the concern that he gave her but still, he was going to get it, she thought darkly.

It was half an hour later that she ran into Ino. She thought that maybe the blonde would have some advice on how to shake her ANBU stalker off, despite the fact that it was partly her fault that this had all happened. If Ino hadn't sent her on that dare to seduce Itachi, then she wouldn't have to worry about anything at all.

But now that she thought about it, maybe it would have been better if she hadn't told Ino of her encounter with the Uchiha. The blonde kept jumping into wrong conclusion such as this.

"It doesn't matter what it means!" Ino said exasperatedly. "The important fact is that you went on a date with Uchiha Itachi without even telling me!"

Sakura sputtered. "W-what the hell are you talking about?!" she hollered. "It was _not _a date."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Sure, Sakura, sure…"

Sakura eyes hardened. "Ino…" she growled warningly.

The blonde sighed. "Look the point is Itachi-san sat at the same table as you and even paid for your meal. If it's not a date then what is it?"

"Sasuke-kun was there," the rosette said lamely.

Ino threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. "Well, it's not as if Itachi-san was going on a date with Sasuke-kun! That'll just be incest!" she remarked.

"Whatever you say, Ino-pig," Sakura muttered, knowing that Ino had won their little argument.

"Huh? What did you call me, Billboard-brow?!"

Her eyes twitched. "Pig."

"Forehead-girl!"

Sakura's lips twitched upwards. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed those times where she and Ino bickered over childish things. She could already feel the stress beginning to evaporate into thin air.

"I've got to go now," she told her best friend.

Ino nodded.

"By the way, Ino."

Ino looked up curiously.

"Why on Earth are you hiding Shisui in your closet?"

Ino and the figure inside her closet froze. How did she find out that he was in there?

"Ah, on second thought I don't want to know," Sakura stated, creasing her eyebrows together in what seemed like disgust.

Ino's sky-blue eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?" she demanded.

"Nothing, Pig." Then the rosette disappeared.

A few moments later the closet door opened and out came Shisui, whose clothes looked terribly ruffled.

"Couldn't even breathe in there," he muttered, casting the blonde an annoyed look.

Ino returned the look with one of her own. "Well who asked you to hide in my closet anyway?"

"Tell that to your mother," he said, giving her a dead-panned look.

Ino furrowed her brows. "And what's my mother got to do with this?"

"She came to your apartment earlier. Did you really think that she would turn into a blind bat and totally ignore my presence?" he asked disbelievingly.

"And why wouldn't you want her attention? If I recall, you seem quite happy to have the company of a female." Ino didn't know why but she felt a tinge of annoyance at what she said.

Shisui scoffed. "As if I want an old hag like her," he remarked but then his eyes immediately widened when he realized his mistake.

Ino's facial features darkened uncontrollably. "Excuse me, but did you just insult my mother?" she asked in a scary tone.

Shisui chuckled nervously. "Ahh…sorry?" he almost squeaked.

The blonde's expression did not change.

"Hehe…anyway, I got some good news," he changed the topic, hoping to interrupt her on her plan on how to slaughter him.

"What is it?" she grumbled.

The Uchiha responded by reaching into his pocket and pulled out some photos.

"Check this out." He handed it to her.

Ino took them and inspected it closely, widening her eyes at the process. The photo was a picture of Itachi and Sakura at the dango shop. Itachi was eating the dango off of Sakura's stick, which at the same time was dangerously close to her mouth. It almost looked as if they were kissing from this angle.

"Wow," Ino commented, immediately forgetting about his earlier comment on her mother. "I'm impressed."

"Wait till we show this to Mikoto-ba," Shisui said; his eyes shone mischievously.

"Ooh...I like where this is going." Ino grinned, rubbing her hands together.

Sounds of evil laughter echoed through the apartment. No doubt that something evil was going through their heads. It was bad enough that Ino was planning but since she had help from Shisui, the result is going to end up really deadly, especially for the victim.

Poor Sakura…

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
For once I didn't end my chapters in 'Oh, boy'. Thanks for reading! Did you think that any of the characters were OOC? If so, then I apologize. But since this is an AU non-massacre fic I guess it wouldn't matter that much but I'll try and keep them in character as much as possible. Please review! I always enjoy receiving feedback on my stories. If you have any questions then please ask. Flames are not accepted.

**-X-**

**The Pretty List_:  
_**_-Akatsuki's-Hime-Dine-Chan-  
Unices  
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Incondite. Lies.  
VALLED  
Kikyo10  
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__sleeping itasaku fangirl__  
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Wow that's thirty-one reviews. Thanks a lot for the support!

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	7. Mischievous Mother

**Author's Note:**  
This is the longest chapter that I've written so far...Fifteen pages... I suppose that this can count as an apology for not updating for so long. Hope you enjoy! Read and review!

**-X-**

**Chapter Seven**_  
-Mischievous Mother-_

**-X-**

The rain was cool on his face as he rushed through the forest. The team dashed along the soft soil, leaving their sandal imprints behind them. The wind howled viciously and thunder struck, startling the birds in their nests. Naruto frowned in annoyance as his usual spiky blonde hair clung flatly against his face, shielding his vision.

"When is this damned rain going to stop?" he muttered to himself.

"We're in Amegakure, Dickless. The rain won't stop for at least another hour or so," Sai stated.

Naruto fumed at the nickname. "What did you call me, asshole?!" he seethed.

Insert blank smile.

From the back, a masked shinobi sighed. Not even for a minute could they have ceased their bickering. Naruto was always too short-tempered. Even a stupid little insult would get him riled up immediately. But Kakashi couldn't put all the blame on him – Sai was just as bad. In fact, if the black haired ANBU hadn't made that insult, none of this would have happened. Sometimes Kakashi wished that Sakura was here. She would have no problem in keeping Naruto in control.

"Kakashi-senpai, how much further is it till we reach Konoha?" Yamato inquired, reaching the older shinobi's side.

"About an hour or so if we keep it up at this pace," Kakashi stated, staring ahead.

The rain was getting worse and worse by each minute, making it harder for them to see the route that they were currently taking. The silver haired tokubetsu jounin sighed, wanting to pull out his book and read to quench the thirst of his boredom. But knowing that the rain would ruin the pages, he decided against it. Besides, a mission was no time for reading and foolishness.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called, falling back to join the jounin at his side.

"Hm?"

"Why is baa-chan sending us out on a retrieval mission for some stupid scroll? Wouldn't this mission be more suited for a team of genin?"

"That's because Tsunade-sama doesn't trust anyone else to get this," Yamato answered for Kakashi.

Naruto scoffed, looking down at the scroll held within his hand. "I don't see what so special about this lame old thing," he muttered.

Indeed the scroll did not seem special. The edges were torn and burnt slightly. Even the colour of the paper was beginning to fade. The only thing that remained intact was the kanji written in bold black ink.

Naruto traced the kanji with his finger.

Life.

He wondered what it meant, besides the obvious. Tsunade had only given them the instruction of retrieving the scroll and not the details of what it was to be used for. And that had annoyed him greatly.

"The rain's finally stopping," Sai stated.

The team looked up. Surely enough, the raindrops slowed to a stop. The grey clouds were beginning to part and the sunlight slowly filtered through. Just by looking at the weather, Kakashi could tell that they had left Amegakure and was at the border of Hi no Kuni. It was only a matter of time before they reached Konoha.

Suddenly, his senses went on high alert. Kakashi put up his hand, signalling the team to stop.

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned, his hand nearing his kunai pouch.

Kakashi closed his eyes and focused. He could sense them travelling towards them at an amazing pace.

_Fifteen…sixteen…no…twenty! There are twenty shinobis approaching, _Kakashi thought to himself. _Judging from their speed and chakra levels, they're all at jounin level._

"Kakashi-senpai, what do you want us to do?" Sai asked calmly, reaching for his weapon.

"Just wait and see what they're after. There's no point in running because they have us outnumbered. Only engage in combat when it's necessary," Kakashi ordered.

The three nodded and got into a defensive stance.

A few seconds later, the group of shinobis appeared from out of the trees. Their faces were twisted into glares and smirks, directed towards the four Konoha shinobis.

Kakashi's eyes hardened. His eye was directly focused on their hitai-ate, which identified the village of their origin.

Otogakure.

**-X-**

Uchiha Mikoto was a patient woman. Having to deal with three stubborn males every single day of her life, she had developed a calm and gentle nature. But right now, she was beginning to feel slightly irritated. Mikoto crossed her arms impatiently as she stared at the two figures standing before her.

Ino fidgeted uncomfortably while her companion grinned with a seemingly innocent look on his face. Mikoto's gaze shifted towards the item in her hand. Her lips twitched up slightly before she turned back towards Shisui and directed towards him a long, hard stare.

"Shisui," she started calmly.

"Yes, Mikoto-ba?" he answered innocently.

Mikoto's body shook and the blonde kunoichi immediately felt fear building up inside her right away. She could tell that the Uchiha woman was about to snap at any moment. Ino was now beginning to understand why Uchiha Itachi was so afraid of her. Her gazes were like a bunch of invisible kunais stabbing into your very soul and her voice had the power to freeze enemies to death. In other words, she was down-right scary.

"You're telling me that my Itachi-kun went out on a date with Sakura-san without even telling me?" she asked, keeping her tone even.

Shisui nodded excitedly, though Ino couldn't understand what was so exciting about meeting the wrath of a very angry mother.

"I…I'm…so…so…" Mikoto's fist clenched tightly.

Shisui's grin grew even wider while Ino backed away, frightened.

_She's going to blow! _Ino cried in her mind.

"I'm so…so…_proud_!" Tears of happiness ran down Lady Uchiha's face like mini-waterfalls.

Shisui nodded his head, agreeing.

"Wha-!" Ino sputtered in disbelief.

What just happened? Wasn't Mikoto angry just a few seconds ago? Why on Earth is she bawling her eyes out? Wasn't she about to kill them?

"My Itachi-kun has grown so much!" Mikoto sniffled. "I can't believe he went on a secret date without even telling me – his own mother!"

"Never thought that Itachi had the guts to do something like this," Shisui mused, gesturing towards the photo that he took.

Lady Uchiha nodded her head vigorously. "Yes but he's going to get a scolding once he gets home. How dare he keep this a secret from me!"

_Ah, now that's something I don't want to miss out on, _both Ino and Shisui thought.

"But first let's talk about the preparations."

Ino blinked. "Preparations for what?" she asked confused.

Mikoto ignored the question and suddenly began talking to herself. "Hm…spring or winter…definitely spring. Winter's too cold…" she muttered, pacing around the room.

Suddenly, her head snapped up and turned towards Ino. Ino faltered slightly at the intense gaze.

"Akane or Ayaka?" she asked seriously.

Ino blinked, growing even more baffled. "What are those names for?" she asked slowly.

Mikoto grinned. "For my future grandchild, of course!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, well that make a lot more…wait, what did you just say?!" Ino screeched.

Mikoto's grin grew even wider, if possible.

Ino's jaw dropped and Shisui just blinked.

**-X-**

Sakura was having the time of her life whereas her poor teammate was not. Sasuke inwardly cursed as he narrowly dodged the pink haired kunoichi's chakra-infused fist. He cringed when her fist smashed into the trunk of a tree, snapping it immediately in half.

Poor tree…

"Come Sasuke-kun! Fight like a man!" Sakura said loudly; the corner of her lips curved up to form a grin.

After that little incident at the dango shop, she had been waiting for the perfect time to get revenge on the younger Uchiha. Needless to say, Sasuke didn't even know what had hit him when Sakura had charged into the training grounds and demanded that he'd spar with her.

"What's gotten you so angry?" he muttered, throwing his own shuriken to counter Sakura's.

"Don't act so innocent on me. Aren't you forgetting what happened two days ago?" Sakura demanded, kicking him hard in the stomach.

Sasuke immediately disappeared and was replaced with a log.

Sakura cursed. Kawarimi no Jutsu. She rolled out of the way, just in time to avoid a medium-sized fireball.

"How was I supposed to know that Itachi was going to show up? I don't control his life," he stated, annoyed.

"Well, you're his brother! He should at least listen to what you have to say. So you better tell him to stay the hell away from me!" she shouted, punching him in the stomach. Lucky for her, the Sasuke that she hit this time was real.

The younger Uchiha hissed as he doubled over in pain.

"God, calm down, Sakura," he said, clutching his stomach, giving her a hard stare.

Sakura twitched. "Calm? I'll show you calm," she grounded out.

Sasuke inwardly shivered. An enraged Sakura was not someone who you'd want to deal with. If only he hadn't opened his mouth…

Before Sakura could take a step forward, a messenger appeared between them in a puff of smoke.

"Haruno Sakura?" he asked.

Sakura blinked. "Yes?"

The messenger reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll. He held it towards Sakura, waiting for her to take it. Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion before taking the scroll slowly.

The dark haired messenger bowed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura slowly began to undo the red string and unrolled the parchment. While she was reading Sasuke appeared at her side and began looking over her shoulder. Her sea-green eyes scanned across the words, widening at the process.

"Sasuke-kun…" she started after finishing.

"I don't know," Sasuke responded blandly, cutting her off. He already had a feeling what she was about to ask.

_Why would okaa-san invite her over for dinner?_

**-X-**

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably in the kimono that she worn. It was deep violet in colour, decorated with white butterflies and around her waist was a light pink obi, tied in an elegant knot. With some difficulty, she was able to tie her hair up into an elegant bun, despite the fact that her hair was only up to shoulder length. Finally, a purple butterfly hair ornament was placed through the bun, holding it in place. Despite the kimono being beautiful, Sakura was just not used to wearing it at all. But she decided that since she was invited to have dinner with Uchiha Mikoto, also known as Lady Uchiha, she might as well dress formally for this occasion.

Her eyes stared up at the entrance before her. She took in a deep breath and proceeded forward.

"I'm here to see Uchiha-sama," she told the man at the entrance, showing him the scroll.

The man's eyes widened before bowing his head. "Yes of course, Haruno-sama. Please follow me," he said, leading her into the compound.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the honorific added to her name but quickly dismissed it when she was lead through the compound. Eventually, they arrived at the dinner table. Sakura widened her eyes at the sight of all the delicious food.

"Sakura-san, I'm so glad that made it!" Mikoto exclaimed, grabbing the younger kunoichi into a tight embrace.

Sakura awkwardly hugged her back. "Thanks for inviting me, Uchiha-sama," she said.

"Please, call me Mikoto."

When the dark haired woman finally released her, Sakura was able to get a close look at the kimono that Mikoto was wearing. It was sapphire-blue in colour. Unlike Sakura's, there was no patterns or anything on the kimono except for the Uchiha clan crest on the back. The obi was pale blue in colour. Despite the attire being simple, it had really brought out the beauty of the woman known as Lady Uchiha. Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.

"Take a seat, Sakura-chan. Can I call you that?"

Sakura nodded, unable to resist those kind motherly eyes of hers. She now knows why Sasuke always speaks so highly of her.

A few seconds later, Sasuke appeared. He was wearing a plain white kimono with a black sash. Sakura immediately felt a bit overdressed.

Sasuke gave her a nod before sitting down at the table. "Where's otou-san?" he asked.

"Fugaku…" Mikoto said her husband's name for Sakura's sake. "…is at the clan meeting so he won't be joining us tonight."

"Hn."

Mikoto turned towards Sakura smiling brightly. "Please take a seat, Sakura-chan. I heard from Sasuke-chan that you like tempura, right?" she inquired.

Sakura nodded, trying to control her snort from becoming apparent. Her gaze shifted towards her teammate and gave him a mocking look.

'_Sasuke-_chan_?!' _her eyes conveyed.

Sasuke gave her a hard glare. _'Shut up…'_

'_But still…Sasuke-_chan_?!'_

'…'

"Now, let's dig in!" Mikoto exclaimed, oblivious to the secret messages that the two were shooting at each other through their eyes.

Sakura giggled slightly before taking a bite of her tempura. The younger Uchiha grumbled under his breath before picking up his onigiri.

"Itadakimasu!" the three chorused.

Throughout the meal, Sakura smirked…

…Sasuke glared.

…and Mikoto just grinned.

Half an hour later the food had vanished. Sakura let out a content sigh. That was one of the best meals that she had all week. Not only was Uchiha Mikoto famous for being Lady Uchiha and an excellent mother, she was also famous for her fabulous cooking. If only her mother was like that…

"Sakura-chan, I'm sure you're wondering why I invited you here, is that right?" Mikoto asked.

Sakura blinked. She had almost forgotten about that but nevertheless, nodded her head.

"I want to discuss with you regarding the relationship that you and my son have."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other, confused. What on Earth was she talking about?

"It has come to my attention that you and my son are currently engaging in a secret relationship, am I correct?"

The two jounins' eyes simultaneously widened. "W-what, are you talking about, Mikoto-san?" Sakura sputtered. "Sasuke-kun and I are just friends!"

Mikoto blinked. "I wasn't referring to Sasuke-chan," she said.

"Not Sasuke-kun…then you must mean…" Her eyes widened. "No! You got it all wrong! There's nothing going on between me and Itachi-san!" she denied.

Lady Uchiha giggled. "Aw, how cute," she cooed. "I really admire you for being able to keep this a secret from me for so long."

Sakura looked flabbergasted. "What! No, I-" She immediately turned towards Sasuke.

'_Say something, God dammit!'_

Sasuke instantly backed away. _'Don't drag me into this!' _

"So I was wondering, Sakura-chan. When's the wedding going to be?"

"There will be no wedding!" Sakura hollered out unconsciously.

Mikoto's expression immediately became sad. "B-but what about my future grandchildren!" she wailed.

"Calm down, okaa-san," Sasuke told, feeling uncomfortable. He hated dealing with crying women.

"Yeah, Mikoto-san, I think this is all just a huge misunderstanding. I do not have an interest in Itachi-san." _Although I'm not sure about what he thinks of me…_ Sakura shivered, remembering the little incident in her bedroom.

"Does that mean you hate Itachi-kun?"

"No, I don't hate him."

"…Then does that mean you like him?" Mikoto asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yes…er, I mean no! I don't like him, at least not in that…stop grinning Mikoto-san! I do not like him!"

Mikoto just continued to grin while Sakura sank deep into her chair.

Sasuke just pretended not to notice.

**-X-**

"I…couldn't…sleep…at all…" Sakura muttered to herself, clutching her pillow.

Her bright pink hair was all tangled up in a mess and bags under her eyes were seen. Her eye twitched. Mikoto's words from last night had caused her to become an insomniac

"_Just to let you know, Sakura-chan," came Mikoto's overly sweet voice. "I'm going to have grandchildren, even if it kills me!"_

Sakura shivered. The idea of her and Itachi being together was enough to freak her out, much less have children.

"_The world must hate us," _Inner Sakura remarked dryly.

Sakura couldn't agree more.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke broke her out of her thoughts. Sakura yelped in alarm and pulled her blankets over her half-naked body. The smoke cleared away to reveal Shisui standing there in the middle of her room looking amused.

"Shisui-san?!"

"You look terrible, Sakura-chan," he remarked, noting the bags under her eyes.

"I'm well aware of that fact, thank you very much," she replied sardonically. "What do you want?"

The expression on the Uchiha's face immediately became serious. "Tsunade-sama needs to see you right now for a retrieval mission," he explained.

"Retrieval for what?" the rosette asked curiously.

"Tsunade-sama will give you all the details. You better hurry though; she's getting a bit too impatient these days."

Sakura nodded. "I'll be there as soon as I get dressed," she informed.

Shisui nodded and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Quickly hopping off of her bed, Sakura stripped herself of her bedtime attire and into her shinobi clothes. She picked up her hitai-ate and tied it on its usual place – on top of her head. As she walked out the door, Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly anxious.

Something bad was going to happen.

**-X-**

Deep down in the dungeons of an unknown location, a figure with scratches covering his entire body groaned. His hands and legs were bound together tightly by chakra-infused ropes, making them seemingly impossible to break. Slowly, his sapphire-blue eyes opened only to see a grey haired man smirking down at him. The man's spectacles gleamed dangerously in the darkness.

"None of this would have happened if you weren't so stubborn," the grey haired man stated. "Now tell me, where is it?"

"Go to hell, you son of a bitch!" he spat out.

The man remained unaffected but you could tell from the look in his eyes that his patience was beginning to run out.

"You can spare yourself a lot of pain if you just tell me where the scroll is."

"Fuck you, Kabuto!"

Before he knew it, the sapphire-eyed male was kicked in the abdomen by the medic-nin. He let out a gasping choke of pain.

Kabuto sighed. "We'll continue this later then," he said, walking towards the cell door.

His eyelids began to grow heavier and his body was growing numb. It must have been the drug that Kabuto had injected into his body earlier. He couldn't even find the strength to control his chakra anymore.

_Kakashi-sensei…Sai…Sasuke…Sakura-chan…_

Then darkness engulfed him once more.

**-X-**

Sakura couldn't believe what she had just heard. The office was deathly silent; the only sound which could be heard was the occasional chirps from the birds outside. She clenched her fists and stared at her shishou, who had her eyes closed.

"You're telling me that Naruto has been captured?" she breathed out, disbelievingly.

"We're still not sure about that," Yamato spoke in a somewhat grim tone. "For all we know, he could already be…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"He's not dead," Tsunade said firmly. "It takes more than a bunch of Oto-nin to kill the brat." She chuckled slightly before taking in a deep breath. "That's why I've called for you. I'm sending you out on a retrieval mission to Otogakure. Find Naruto and bring him back and while you're at it find the Scroll of Life."

"The Scroll of Life?" Ino questioned.

"Kakashi will explain. I won't accept failure on this mission. Got it?"

"Yes," the shinobis simultaneously said.

Tsunade nodded. "Alright, you'll all be split into two groups, each lead by one captain. Team One will consists of Yamato, Ino, Shisui and Kakashi as team captain. You got that, Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded.

"And Team Two will consist of Sai, Sasuke and Sakura."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Who's our team captain?"

Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard throughout the room.

"Come in!"

The door swung open to reveal a figure dressed in full ANBU attire. On his face was a red and white rat mask.

"Mission report?" Tsunade asked.

"Aa," the ANBU intoned, placing a scroll on the Godaime Hokage's desk.

Sakura couldn't help but find the voice to be slightly familiar.

"I have a new mission for you," Tsunade spoke.

The ANBU did not answer but she could tell that he was fully listening.

"Uzumaki Naruto was reported to be missing since his last mission. Your mission is to retrieve him as captain of their team," Tsunade stated, gesturing towards Sasuke, Sai and Sakura.

"Understood," the ANBU said, scanning his eyes across the shinobis in the room; his gaze lingering on Sakura longer than the others.

Tsunade's lips twitched up slightly to form a smile. "Does that answer your question, Sakura?"

"Yes, shishou," Sakura answered in a clipped tone.

"Good, you may remove your mask," the blonde Hokage told the ANBU.

Sakura watched as the ANBU slowly reached up to untie his mask from his face. Her eyes widened as a pair of onyx eyes were revealed. Those orbs of his shone with slight amusement…directed at her.

Uchiha Itachi had returned.

Could her day get any worse?

Something tells Sakura that this was going to be a long mission, or as Shikamaru would say…

How troublesome.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
This story is finally starting to get more serious. No ItaSaku fluff in this chapter but hopefully there will be some in the next. I kind of think that I made Mikoto a bit too dramatic…Oh well! I like her that way. Please review! Tell me if you find any mistakes. Flames are not accepted but constructive criticism is. If you have any question then please ask – I'll answer them as best I can. See you in the next chapter!

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
omnipotent Porunga  
-Akatsuki's-Hime-Dine-Chan-  
QueenThayet12990  
ioOShiroTenshiOoi  
AkatsukiGrl101  
Daisukifan  
itasakusasusakugirl  
leahuk  
sleeping itasaku fangirl  
xXxtellmewhyxXx  
EvilEyeSpirit  
VALLED  
xzlioness  
slykittymeowmeow  
Incondite. Lies.  
midnightfire-anna  
LitoxShorty  
MarzSpy  
Lady Phoenix Grey  
Scarlet-Rose Morseta  
Readalot-TMB  
xOSillyGurlOx  
Moonhuntress09  
jo107  
Unices  
freakhorrorchick  
Crystalkyubbi-chan  
Shade of the Ace  
-MeWantPie-  
ItachiXSakuraForever  
The Blood Thirsty Sliver Wolf  
inujenzy_

Thank you so much for reviewing! Please tell me if you reviewed in the last chapter and I didn't add your name to the list.

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


	8. Damsel in Distress

**Author's Note:**  
Hell yeah! I finally got chapter eight finished. Hope you enjoy it! Lots of ItaSaku fluff in this chapter. Hope it makes up for the lack of it in the last chapter. Since I'm in such a hurry to post this up, I haven't gotten the chance to beta it so if you find any mistakes please feel free to point them out to me. I'll fix them when I get the chance to. Until then, enjoy!

**-X-**

**Chapter Eight**_  
-Damsel in Distress-_

**-X-**

Sakura wanted to groan really badly. How in the world did this happen? She pulled the blanket over half her face and let out an exasperated sigh. This had to be the worst day ever. She really hoped that they would be able to find Naruto and end this mission as soon as possible. Her eyes shone with concern at the sudden reminder of her friend. Naruto…was he okay? Was he hurt?

"_He's probably thinking about eating ramen right now." _Inner Sakura chuckled humourlessly.

Sakura sucked in a deep breath and turned to her right. _I'll save you, Naruto. Just wait…_ She shifted about.

Suddenly an arm was wrapped around her waist, stilling her movements. Sakura froze as the person's warm breath came in contact with her bare neck.

"Go to sleep, Sakura," a velvet voice spoke.

"I will if you let go of me," Sakura gritted out calmly. She mentally praised herself for being able to keep her cool at a time like this.

"Hm." Itachi smirked as he nuzzled his nose against her bare skin, breathing in her scent.

You may ask how in the world she had ended up in a situation like this. Well, the answer was quite simple, actually.

_**Two Hours Earlier…**_

Itachi's team dashed through the Konoha forest at a break neck's pace. The sun was beginning to set in the horizon and grey clouds were beginning to form.

Sakura glanced up at the skies. Judging from the looks of its colours, a heavy storm was approaching. She let out a frown. The last thing she wanted was to catch a cold from running in the rain. Her gaze shifted towards her captain, who was at the front leading. Knowing Itachi, he wouldn't stop for such insignificant reasons such as to avoid the rain.

The rosette sighed. She was doomed.

Suddenly, Itachi pulled to a stop. He landed gracefully on the branch of a tree and turned to face his team.

"What's wrong, aniki?" Sasuke inquired, pulling to a stop as well.

"A storm is approaching. We should set up camp here," he announced; his eyes occasionally drifted towards Sakura.

Sakura immediately caught up to his game. He could sense that she was troubled and was stopping for her. Although she wouldn't admit it, a part of her felt touched by his concern, but the other part of her felt immensely annoyed.

Who was he to treat her like a child? She was not a damsel in distress that needed pampering. All that had been long forgotten ever since she was a genin. She was not about to have someone treat her as a weakling ever again.

"I'm fine, taichou," Sakura spoke up. Everyone looked at her. "You don't have to stop for me."

If Itachi hadn't had any self-control then he would have burst out laughing. "And whoever said that I was stopping for you, _Sakura_," he drawled out slowly. "I'm just simply looking after the well-being of my team, that's all."

_Liar! _She screamed in her mind.

Shisui had once complained to her that his cousin was always too brutal during their missions. The older Uchiha had showed up at the hospital once with a nasty flu, thanks to Itachi not stopping for a break when it was raining heavily.

Itachi would _never _stop for something as insignificant as this.

Noticing that both Sasuke and Sai heeded to his command, Sakura sighed and took off her backpack and proceeded to dig through her stuff to find her tent.

Her hand froze, unable to feel anything other than weapons, scrolls and medical equipment.

_Where the hell is my tent?!_

Out of dread, Sakura immediately emptied all the contents of her bag onto the forest floor. Her sea-green eyes scanned hastily across the items, widening in the process.

"Oh, shit!" she swore out loud, grabbing the attention of the three males.

How could she have forgotten to pack her tent of all things?! And at such a critical time, small droplets of rain began to drop from the sky.

Sakura groaned loudly. Yep, this was definitely the worse day ever.

"What's the matter, Hag?" Sai asked with a blank smile. "I thought you were only supposed to be ugly, not forgetful as well. That's Dickless's job."

If Sakura wasn't in such distress, she would have sent the ex-ANBU flying for that comment.

Sasuke almost sighed, inwardly agreeing with Sai. His onyx eyes gave her an imperturbable look. _Well, I guess it can't be helped…_

"Sakura," he said, capturing her attention. "If you'd want, you can share with-"

"-with me," Itachi cut him off, giving her a look which held an emotion that she couldn't define.

Sasuke looked dumbstruck whereas Sakura looked horrified.

…Sai just blinked…

"W-what are you talking about?!" Sakura almost screeched. "There's no way in hell am I sharing a tent with you. I'm sharing with Sasuke!" She announced, sending a pleading look towards her teammate. _'You better help me, or else…'_

Sasuke backed away. _Uhh…_

Itachi almost chuckled. "I'm afraid that's impossible. As you can see, Sasuke's tent is small enough as it is for one, much less two," he stated.

"Then I'll share with Sai!" Sakura hollered, pointing towards her emotionless teammate.

Sai just smiled blankly.

…

…

…

"…On second thought, maybe not…" she grumbled. "But I'm still not going to sleep with you!"

Itachi smirked. "You're really much welcomed to sleep outside on the forest floor," he said. "Although, I can assure you that it'll be anything but comfortable."

As if on cue, the rain began pouring even harder. Sakura wanted to scream as she covered her head.

"_I goddamn hate you, Mother Nature!" _Inner Sakura screamed, shaking her fists.

"Well, what's your decision, Sakura?" Itachi silky voice came.

"No way in hell am I going to sleep with you!" she repeated stubbornly.

Although his tent did look so inviting…no! Sakura shook her head. Now was not the time to feel mesmerized.

"Sakura, answer this question," Itachi started, grabbing her attention once more. "Who's the captain of this team?"

Sakura blinked, unable to find any connections on how this was related to the topic that they were discussing.

"You…?" she answered slowly, although the answer came out more like a question.

"And whose orders are you supposed to follow on this mission."

"…Yours."

Itachi smiled, almost in a lazy manner. "That's correct. So you're obliged to follow my every command and I command you to sleep with me," he said.

…

…

…

"_That came out so wrong…" _Inner Sakura stated the obvious.

Sakura looked absolutely horrified. "But who's going to take guard?" she asked desperately.

Itachi responded by creating a clone. "Does that answer your question, Sakura?" he asked amusedly.

"B-but, but! I-!" she tried to protest but was dragged away from her other teammates by the captain.

'_Sasuke, Sai! Save me!' _Her eyes screamed.

Sasuke and Sai could only watch bewildered.

…

…

…

…

"Do my ears deceive or did Homo's brother just announce his sexual intentions towards Hag?" Sai asked himself.

"No Sai, your ears are perfectly fine," Sasuke answered, slightly shocked.

…

…

…

…

"And quit calling me Homo."

"…"

_**Present Time…**_

Sakura was really beginning to regret her decision. She would rather get drenched in the rain then to be stuck in a tent with Uchiha Itachi alone. Sakura was willing to do anything in order to get herself out of her position. Suddenly, the freezing cold weather outside became really pleasing.

"Do you mind letting go of me," Sakura said in a clipped tone.

But first, she had to get out of her position.

Although her tone of voice told Itachi that it was not a request he still answered her but not before chuckling amusedly. "As a matter of fact, I do mind. It's quite cold in here, as you can see." He buried his nose deeper into her neck. "And you make the perfect heat conductor."

Sakura could feel the smirk beginning to form on his face. She tried to free herself from his grasp but his hold on her was just too strong. She was so tempted to use her, or as Naruto would call, _inhuman_ strength in breaking free, but something tells her that no matter what stunt she may perform, Itachi would eventually come out on top. He wasn't known as Konoha's top ANBU captain for nothing.

Suddenly, something wet and warm touched the pulse point on her neck. Sakura gasped. Was that his tongue licking her?!

"H-hey, what are you doing?!" she screeched.

Itachi ignored her and continued his actions on her neck. It took all the control that she had to keep herself from letting out a moan. It felt so wrong but at the same time so right.

The ANBU captain smirked. "Do you like this?" he purred, kissing her neck.

"N-no…" she moaned out.

"Oh? Then how about this?"

Sakura gasped and snapped her eyes tightly shut when Itachi began sucking on her skin. She let out a quiet whimper, knowing that she couldn't deny that fact that it felt good.

"Do you like this?" Itachi repeated his question.

"_Say yes!" _Inner Sakura commanded, unable to contain her excitement.

"Y-ye…yes…" she breathed out. Her face was painted in a lovely shade of pink that almost matched the colour of her hair.

Itachi eyes gleamed. "Good." He chuckled.

Suddenly, Sakura found herself under him. She looked up only to find herself staring into a sea of onyx.

_He has beautiful eyes, _she thought unconsciously.

Itachi chuckled deeply at her fascination with his eyes. "Like what you see, Sakura?" he drawled out.

Sakura gulped at his muscular tone. God dammit, why do all Uchihas have to have such a sexy voice? Her gaze then drifted lower towards his pale lips. They looked so soft…so perfect…so inviting. Her tongue unconsciously lashed out and licked her lips.

"Itac-" she started but was unable to finish.

Itachi leaned down and connected his lips with hers. She gasped and Itachi took this as a chance to slip his tongue into her mouth. His tongue explored every inch of her mouth, taking in the taste of sweet dango.

He loved dango.

Sakura's eyes snapped shut on their own record. For some odd reason, she couldn't bring herself to break the kiss. Heat travelled to her face at an immensely fast pace and she was willing to bet that it rivalled her hair. She moaned with pleasure and returned the kiss hungrily. While her tongue played with his, her hands reached up and tugged Itachi's hair tie out of his ponytail. Long ebony-black waterfalls cascaded down past his shoulder. Sakura's hands immediately felt lost in the black tresses.

Itachi let out a groan as her fingers massaged the scalp of his head. A part of him felt irked about how easily she was able to manipulate him into showing this much emotion. He was supposed to be the one to have an affect on her, not the other way around. Never once had he ever met such a person like her. She was interesting, that was for sure.

Sakura's mind was blank. She didn't know what was happening anymore. The only thing that she could see, hear and taste was the man in front of her. What was she doing?

Inner Sakura cheered. _"Shannaro! We scored ourselves one sexy shinobi!" _she exclaimed.

_Wha…? _

"_Asshole or not, Itachi sure is one hell of a good kisser!"_

_Good kisser…Itachi… _Her eyes flashed open in alarm. _What the hell?!_

Without thinking, Sakura bit down as hard as she could on Itachi's tongue. The Uchiha immediately backed away, hissing in pain.

Sakura panted and covered her mouth with widened orbs. Her eyes shone in terror. She just made out with Uchiha Itachi!

_Shit! _

Without wasting anymore time, the rosette quickly got up and left the tent hastily – her hand still covered her mouth.

Itachi didn't even bother to stop her. He sucked on his tongue, tasting a familiar taste of metal – blood. Instead of feeling angry like he should be, Itachi allowed a smirk to adorn his face.

Yes, she was really interesting.

**-X-**

For once in her life, Ino felt annoyed of having long hair as it clung tightly against her face. Rain was pouring down from the skies and onto her petite figure, drenching her from head to toe. She wanted to complain really badly but restrained herself from doing so. After all, she was on a team of three ANBU or ex-ANBU, whereas she was still just a jounin. She didn't want to make herself seem weaker then she already felt.

Kakashi landed on the ground of the forest and put his hand up, signalling them to stop.

"We're here," he stated.

In front of him was the entrance to Orochimaru's base. No mistakes here, seeing as how there was a red snake painted on the wooden door.

The three of them landed beside their captain and waited silently for his orders. Kakashi's ears perked up at the sounds of approaching steps. He pointed towards the trees and leaped onto them. The three followed in suit.

A few seconds later, a bunch of Oto-nins appeared. All of them were men and were dressed in Otogakure outfits. White shirt and dark blue pants accompanied by a massive purple bow. Ino mentally cringed at their bad sense of fashion choice.

"It looks like they're heading in," Shisui stated from her left.

His breath was warm and comforting on her face. Ino sucked in a deep breath as her heart began to speed up. Just what in the world was he doing to her?

"We've got two options," Kakashi spoke up. "We can either charge straight in, taking them all out or we could…" His lone eye shifted towards Ino's direction.

Ino nodded understandingly. "I'll do it," she said firmly.

"Be careful," Shisui said, before she jumped down and hid behind a bush.

Ino smiled up at him before focusing her attention towards the last Oto-nin at the back. She quickly performed a few hand signs.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu," Ino whispered as she aimed for the Oto-nin's back.

Her spiritual energy was immediately transferred into the shinobi's body. She lifted the Oto-nin's hand and grinned.

Stage one complete.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" one of the Oto shinobis shouted at her.

Ino's, aka, the Oto-nin's, head snapped up, noticing that she was a few feet behind.

"Nothing," she called, rushing up to them. _I better gather some information on the whereabouts of Naruto, _she thought.

"So I hear that we've got a new prisoner," she spoke up, mentally cringing at her new scratchy voice.

"Yeah, it's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Quite a catch, if I must say," the Oto-nin mused.

Bingo.

"Why was he captured?" Ino inquired.

The Oto-nin shrugged. "Who knows? Orochimaru-sama was just after their scroll. The brat was probably just caught in the crossfire. Kabuto still hasn't managed to pry the whereabouts of the damn thing out of him," he said. "Now he's giving us orders to rough him up a bit for him, that little bastard," he muttered to himself. "He thinks that just because he's Orochimaru-sama's subordinate he can order us around like dogs when he's one himself."

Ino almost rolled her eyes. _Yeah, yeah, whatever…_

"So where is Na-er, the Jinchuuriki held?" Ino inwardly sighed in relief. She almost made a slip and said his name but just managed to keep in it.

"Down in the dungeons in Cell Number three. Why do you want to know?" the Oto-nin asked, beginning to sound a bit suspicious.

"W-well, you know. I just want to have my turn at roughing him up a bit," she explained, inwardly panicking.

The Oto-nin laughed. "Well aren't you eager for some action," he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a silver rusted key. "Here." He handed it to her.

Ino accepted it. "Uh, where's the dungeon again. I forgot," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. _Please fall for it! _

"Man, you're so forgetful." The shinobi chuckled, pointing to his left. "Just follow that path and you'll eventually come to a large steel door. You won't miss it."

Ino nodded and proceeded in the direction. As soon as she was out of the other Oto-nin's sight, she took off into a dash. There was only five more minutes before her jutsu would wear out. Back when she was twelve her jutsu would only last up to five minutes but thanks to her all her hard work and training, she had improved it so that it would last up to fifteen minutes.

Ino stopped in front of a metal door. _This must be it, _she thought, pushing the door open.

She was immediately greeted by the smell of death. The blonde covered her nose in disgust and proceeded forward. In each of the cells she could see prisoners dressed in rags, looking sick and tired. If she wasn't in such a hurry, Ino wouldn't even think twice about releasing them. How could Orochimaru do this to all these people? The more she thought about it the more worried she got. Was Naruto's condition the same as theirs? She hoped not.

Her eyes suddenly landed on the number on the wall – three. Then the cell next to it must be Naruto's. Ino quickly proceeded forward in joy but all that happiness was wiped away as soon as it came and was immediately replaced with horror.

The cell door was ripped right off their hinges and two Oto-nins were lying inside. Ino ran up to them and felt their pulse.

No heart beat.

She immediately backed away in shock and looked around the cell in search of Naruto.

_I better tell Kakashi-sensei, _she thought. "Kai!" she called, dispelling the technique.

Never once did she notice the claw marks on the cell bars. The claws of a fox…

**-X-**

Ino opened her eyes to find herself staring into a pair of dark orbs that shone with worry.

"Ino, are you alright?" Shisui asked.

Ino immediately blushed, realizing that she was held within his arms. She immediately got up and coughed nervously.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she assured, putting a hand on her chest, only to feel an abnormally fast beat of her heart.

Shisui grinned. "That's good to know," he said.

"So what happened?" Yamato asked.

Ino's blush receded and she looked serious. "Naruto's gone," she said quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi inquired.

Ino began her explanation and the three listened intently. When she was finished, Kakashi had a grim expression on his face.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped," he said with a sigh. "We'll just have to proceed onto the second part of the mission."

"You mean the scroll?"

"Aa."

"But what about Naruto-kun?" Yamato asked.

Kakashi thought for a moment before answering. "Naruto will be fine. Based on what Ino told us, I'm sure that he managed to escape from their hold. We'll worry about him later," he said.

The three nodded.

"I'll send a message to Itachi's team to inform them of the situation." Kakashi's flew into a series of seals.

Ino's eyes widened at the speed. _Wow…_

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke a dog appeared. "Yo!" the dog greeted.

"Pakkun, I've got a job for you…"

**-X-**

Sakura twitched as her hair dripped with water. She cursed as her shaking hands reached up to wring the liquid out of her clothes. Suddenly, she let out a violent sneeze. Maybe staying under a tree in the middle of the night during a storm wasn't such a good idea. But on the other hand…Sakura's eyes darkened. She'd rather get sick then to share a tent with Uchiha Itachi.

She hated him so much!

Not only did he force her to sleep with him, he stole first kiss (the one at the bar didn't count because she was drunk at the time)! And because of him, she was out here dripping wet, freezing to death and soon to suffer from hypothermia.

_I hate him! _

"_When did you ever like him in the first place?" _Inner Sakura questioned dryly.

Although she may not have liked him, a part of still respected him greatly for his abilities as Konoha's top shinobi.

_But still…he's an asshole…_

"What happened to you?" Sasuke asked as he emerged from his tent. "I thought you were sharing with Itachi."

Sakura growled. "There's no way in hell I'm ever sleeping with him ever again!" she yelled.

"Why? Was the sex really that bad?" Sai asked innocently.

"SAI!" both Sasuke and Sakura shouted red in the face.

"What? I seem to recall all the noises that you two were ma-"

"Don't," Sakura growled, cutting him off. "Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

"…Sakura, did Sai just say what I think he said?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "Were you and Itachi actually-"

"No! Not you too!" she cried. "We did not do it!"

"Do what?" And just like that the devil decided to appear.

Sakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "You!" she seethed, pointing at him.

Itachi smiled almost in a sardonic manner. "You what?"

Sakura gritted her teeth and gave him a death glare. "You bastard!"

Itachi chuckled. "That's hardly the appropriate language that a lady should be using…but then again, you're not much of a lady anyway so I guess it doesn't matter," he remarked.

Something inside of her snapped. "Why you-!"

It took both Sai and Sasuke to hold her down from lashing out at the elder Uchiha.

Itachi smirked. "Don't worry Sasuke, Sai. She won't even be able to put a scratch on me so you can let her go," he said almost in a mocking manner.

"You little-!"

Sasuke looked annoyed. "I think that's enough, aniki," he said in a clipped tone.

"Hm," Itachi intoned, looking at the furious kunoichi. He smirked before continuing. "Kakashi-san sent me a message."

Sakura immediately stopped her struggling. "A message?"

Itachi nodded and handed her a scroll. Sakura took it out of his hands, accidentally brushing their fingers together in the process. She scowled at him before unrolling the scroll. Her sea-green eyes scanned across the contents before handing it to Sasuke.

"So what do we do now?"

"We'll look for the scroll but at the same time keep an eye out for Naruto-kun. I'm sure he's still nearby," the ANBU captain explained.

The three nodded and proceeded to jump up into the trees. Before Sakura was able to make her move, Itachi grabbed her wrist stilling her movements.

He leaned down towards her ear and spoke in a voice that only they could hear.

"Don't think I've forgotten about what happened yesterday." he breathed into her ear. "You're going to pay for your actions." With one last smirk, he leaped up into the trees.

Sakura shivered feeling slightly distressed. She didn't like the sound of what she was hearing. Just what in the world had gotten him so interested in her in the first place?

Right now, she was really beginning to feel like a damsel in distress.

She needed help really badly.

Oh, boy.

**-X-**

**Author's Note:**  
Thanks for reading. Sorry if Itachi was a bit OOC...but it can't be helped, I guess. Each and every one of your reviews inspires me to write more so please review! No flames. Hope you enjoyed the ItaSaku moments. Next chapter we'll hopefully have more ShisuIno fluff.

**-X-**

**The Pretty List:**_  
Readalot-TMB  
sweet-cookie  
Incondite. Lies.  
MarzySpy  
Sunstorm raining  
xMidnight-Spiritx  
midnightfire-anna  
Sailor Wolf4  
xXxtellmewhyxXx  
Sarcastic Tofu  
StarKiss666  
Pyra Sanada  
ItachiXSakuraForever  
-Akatsuki's-Hime-Dine-Chan-  
Daisuikifan  
VALLED  
Slykittymeowmeow  
Snorkabuziaczek  
Unices  
jo107  
engineFAILURE  
utoi  
LadyXKyasurin_

Thanks a lot for reviewing!

**-X-**

_-Setsuna_


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